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History of Turkey 


COMPRISING 


THE GEOGRAPHY\ CHRONOLOGY AND STATISTICS OF THE 
EMPIRE; THE ETHNOLOGY,\ PRIMITIVE TRADITIONS 
AND SOCIOLOGY OF THE TURKS; AND THE 
GENEALOGY OF THE EXISTING 
OSMANLI DYNASTY. 


By J. D. O’CONNOR. 


WITH MAPS ANH GENEALOGICAL CHART. 


CHICAGO: 

MOSES WARREN. 

i 8 77 * 




Copyright, 1877, by Moses Warren. 






■'/% 


PREFACE. 


« 

" I 'HE author of this History of Turkey believes that no apology is required for 
A endeavoring to give a popular review of such matters relating to the Turks as are most 
likely to interest the general public at the present time. Neither is it necessary to 
apologize for issuing the book at such a price as will bring it within the reach of all. 
The people, however, who think a book worthless, unless high-priced, are respectfully 
requested to examine the work, and, if it be found to have some merit, buy it at the price, 
remitting to the publisher the balance of what it is worth! 

If the public should desire to know the standpoint from which it has been written, 
the author would frankly state that he has been more solicitous to accumulate facts than to 
propagate theories. He is not a partisan, hut a searcher after knowledge, for his own 
and others’ use, without reference to preconceived opinions, whether his or theirs. 
Like all liberty-loving Americans, he would be glad to see the area of self-government 
extended by the liberation of the subject states constituting the Ottoman Empire. His 
wishes in that respect are not, however, confined to European Turkey. He recognizes 
no good reason why the goddess of liberty should not be invoked to spread her benign 
protection over European and Asiatic Russia, as well as Turkey. 

He deprecates the idea of being cajoled by Russia’s pretentious plea of the cham¬ 
pionship of the Cross against the Crescent; and firmly believes that the world has had 
enough of religious wars for or against the Crescent or the Cross. He entertains the 
opinion that Russia’s self-assumed protectorate of the Christians of Turkey, while it may 
serve Russia's purposes, fails to protect the Christians, and necessarily irritates the Turks. 
A high-spirited race will inevitably resent such interference from a rival nation. 

He accepts, as highly probable, the view that sees in the not distant future the final 
dissolution of the “Sick Man of Europe,” for a state cannot be long preserved against 
internal decomposition. The curse of polygamy everywhere debases manhood, and by 
being unjust to woman the Turks deprive themselves of the stimulus to advancement 
which the active cooperation and sympathy of the single wife affords to other races 
of men. 

Attention is respectfully called to the matter and manner of the book. Instead of 
the dry details of wars, battles and revolutions that compose the usual histories, an effort 
has been made to describe the manners and customs of the people, as well as the biog¬ 
raphies of their rulers. It will be seen that, unlike certain writers of history, the author 
has found some products of Turkey other than generals and soldiers, Bashi-bazouks, 
Circassians and assassins. 

The occasional use of Turkish words has been found unavoidable, but it is thought 
that none has been left unexplained. 





History of Turkey 


I. INTRODUCTION. 


T HE aggregation of tribes, nations and races 
known as Turkey is also called the Ottoman 
Empire, or, in Turkish, Osmanli Vilayeti. The 
name Turkey signifies the country of the Turks; and 
Osmanli Vilayeti, or Ottoman Empire, the governments 
or empire of the descendants of Othman, or Osman, the 
founder of the empire and dynasty, who died in 1326. 

It comprises not less than forty important historic 
states, besides almost innumerable self-governing cities, 
of antiquity. The imagination can scarcely picture the 
diversity of antecedents of these different states. Almost 
all the races designated by the most analytical ethnolo¬ 
gists have their representatives in this heterogeneous 
medley. What constituted politically the last remnant 
of mighty Rome’s two thousand years of empire, or of 
Greece’s greater glory of commerce, literature and art, 
or of hoary Egypt’s architectural grandeur, religious 
mystery and prehistoric civilization, as well as the petty 
sovereignty of an Arab clan or Turkish horde, are alike 
included in this motley empire. 

Extensive and important sections of three continents 
acknowledge the sovereign jurisdiction of the Sultan of 
Turkey, and many a proud nation of ancient times lies 
concealed under the uncouth name of some obscure 
vilayet or sandjak belonging to this overgrown nomadic 
horde from Central Asia. 

What adds to the anomalous character of this do¬ 
minion is that the several parts are but loosely intercon¬ 
nected by the mere bond of a common conquest. They 
have never been welded into a national union or even 
the semblance of a united people, but remain strung 
together by the chains in which they are alike held by 
the dominant race. Instead of being bound by common 
sympathies, the subject races are largely antagonistic, 
and the empire suffers from a chronic tendency to fly 
apart through the mutual repulsions of its discordant ele¬ 
ments. 

A small Turkish tribe, numbering only four hundred 
families on leaving Khorassan in 1299, overran and con¬ 
quered the fairest portions of Western Asia and East¬ 
ern Europe within five generations. Aside from the 
affiliations and intermarriages with the vanquished, the 
direct descendants of the original horde could not have 
numbered more than 100,000 souls when they conquered 


Constantinople in 1453. The nations as subdued were 
simply annexed to the domain of the conquerors, and 
reorganized on liberal terms, involving for the most part 
only the recognition of Ottoman sovereignty. The vic¬ 
torious Turks were too few in number and too busy 
enlarging their borders to allow any considerable infil¬ 
tration of the new population with the old. In fact, 
they were but a military camp in the midst of the na¬ 
tions they had traversed. Amalgamation or assimilation 
into the unity of a homogeneous whole was therefore 
impossible. Since the conquest the desire of retaining, 
against superior numbers, the fruits of victory, has com¬ 
pelled the dominant race to hold the others in a kind of 
perpetual state of siege. As in many provinces the 
subject races are still largely in the majority, and evince 
a settled disposition to rebellion, the rulers have not 
dared to relax their vigilance or loosen the bonds of 
a quasi-military occupation. Hence, it is not improbable, 
if the present war should be protracted, and more espe¬ 
cially if Turkey be left unsupported by other European 
powers, that this unwieldly empire will fall to pieces 
through its inherent weakness. 

CONSPICUOUS SOURCES OF WEAKNESS. 

The Turkish Empire is a giant in bulk, and has all 
the outward semblance of greatness, but is so feeble 
from a variety of circumstances that it has long been 
known to the rest of the world by the nickname of “ the 
sick man of Europe.” It is weak because of the con¬ 
stant and deep-rooted hostility between the two great 
religious systems that prevail within its borders. Were 
it all Mohammedan, or all Christian, it could laugh at 
the impotent threats of outside enemies; but, with 
large numbers of its population always open to the 
intrigues of foreign foes, it is preeminently among the 
nations the type of a house divided against itself. 

It is also weak by reason of the heavy taxes necessary 
to maintain by arms the ascendency of the dominant 
race in the midst of the hostile populations. Not so 
much that the taxes are exorbitant in themselves as that 
they are levied on a discontented people, and are often 
collected in an unjust manner. 

The taxes levied for the support of the different reli¬ 
gions tolerated by the state are an added burden, that 



4 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


the disaffected unjustly attribute to the government. 
The Turkish system is not only a union of church and 
state, but might perhaps be more fitly characterized as a 
union of several churches with the state. For instance, 
the monks of Mt. Athos pay about §3,300 a year to the 
government of the sultan, and §10,000 to the patriarch 
of the Greek church at Constantinople! 

Another source of weakness is the maladministration 
incident to a government of favoritism. . The sycophant 
of the sovereign or the confidant of his favorites, secure 
in the support of his superiors, laughs at the people 
over whom he rules, and alienates their affections by 
his haughtiness or tyranny. 


The absence of all sense of loyalty in large masses 
of the people is the most discouraging symptom of 
weakness. Indeed, as has been intimated, the sentiment 
of loyalty is replaced by the smothered resentment of 
the subject races, who are ever ready to repay the gov¬ 
ernment for its protection by encouraging its enemies. 

Under these circumstances the very extent of the em¬ 
pire constitutes its greatest danger. Fragmentary rem¬ 
nants of ancient states, differing widely in manners and 
customs, in religious views and race affinities, and scat¬ 
tered over a wide range of territory, constitute an empire 
unstable as water and incohesive as sand. 


II. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. 


In its widest extent the Turkish Empire stretches 
eastward forty-one degrees of longitude (8° to 49 0 ), 
and northward thirty-seven degrees of latitude (n° to 
48°). But these extreme points are not connected by a 
body of territory of regular shape, and the area is much 
less than these figures would imply. From Sinope, on 
the Black Sea, to the extreme southern limit of Turkish 
dominion in tributary Egypt, is over forty degrees; while 
from the great bend of the Danube, west of the Iron 
Gate, to the head of the Gulf of Saloniki, the distance 
is but four degrees. The northward sweep of Arabia 
especially curtails the area of Asiatic Turkey, and the 
independence of Greece breaks the continuity of the 
geographical outline of Turkey in Europe. Hence the 
whole area is estimated at only 1,900,000 square miles, 
while that of the United States is nearly twice as much. 
It will perhaps be of interest to define its geographical 
limits more in detail, under the heads of its three great 
continental divisions. 

TURKEY IN EUROPE. 


Situation and Extent. 

This division, including the outlying island of Candia, ex¬ 
tends from 34 0 45' to 45° 30' north latitude, and from 15 0 40' to 
29° 4cf east longitude. 

Boundaries. 

European Turkey, including the indirect, vassal or tributary 
governments, is bounded as follows: 

On the North.— By the southwestern provinces of the 
Russian Empire, from which it is separated by the Pruth, and the 
southeastern provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 
from which it is separated, at different points, by the Carpathian 
Mountains, the Middle Danube, and a portion of its affluent, the 
Save. 

On the East.— By the Euxine or Black Sea, and the 
Thracian Bosporus or Channel of Constantinople. 

On the South.— By the Propontis or Sea of Marmora, the 
Hellespont or Strait of the Dardanelles, the Archipelago and 
the Kingdom of Greece. 

On the West.— By the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, and 
inland by the Austrian Dalmatia and Croatia. 


Ancient States Included. 

Within the limits assigned are embraced what were known 
in former times as, Scythia Minor, Dacia, Mcesia (Inferior and 
Superior) Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus and part of 
Illyricum. 

TURKEY IN ASIA. 


Situation and Extent. 

This division of the empire extends from 31 0 to 42 0 5' north, 
and from 24 0 5c/ to 51 0 east. If Hedjaz and Yemen in Arabia 
be included, the southern limit in Asia will be 12 0 40' instead of 
3i°- 

Boundaries. 

On the North.— By the Black Sea and Transcaucasian 
provinces of Russia. 

On the East.— By Persia. 

On the South.—By Arabia and the more easterly parts of 
the Mediterranean. 

On the West.— By what have been already assigned as 
the eastern boundaries of European Turkey. 

Ancient States Included. 

In Asiatic Turkey are embraced the following historic states 
of antiquity, some of them at one time imperial, viz: Armenia, 
Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Chaldaea, part of Elymais, 
Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, including the kingdoms of Judah 
and Israel as well as Philistia, or the land of the Philistines, 
Arabia Petraea, Commagene, Cappadocia, Armenia Minor, 
Pontus, Bithynia, Galatia, I.vcaonia, Cilicia, Painphylia, Pisidia, 
Phrygia, Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Lycia and the important island 
states of Cyprus, Rhodes and Samos, besides the many smaller 
islands along the coast of Asia Minor. 

TURKEY IN AFRICA. 

This division is entirely removed from the actual control of 
the government of Turkey, and comprises the three tributary 
states of Egypt, Tripoli and Tunis. Though these powers ac¬ 
knowledge the sovereign supremacy of Turkey, by the pay¬ 
ment of an annual tribute and otherwise, they may be regarded 
for the purposes of the present work as virtually distinct from 
the Turkish Empire. The sympathies of their Mohammedan 
populations will certainly be with the sovereign lord of Turkey 
who is universally regarded by the faithful as the true ca¬ 
liph of Islam or rightful successor of Mohammed. Political 
exigencies may, however, prevent the respective governments 
from rendering him any efficient service, 





POLITICAL GEOGRAPHT. 


5 


AREA AND POPULATION. 


Table II. Turkey by Races. 


There is much uncertainty about the statistics of 
Turkey. The estimates of native officials are generally 
regarded by the more critical statisticians of Western 
Europe as much too large. But adverse criticism on 
everything Turkish is a confirmed habit with certain 
influential classes in other parts of Europe, and there is 
an equal danger of undue appreciation on that side. A 
French writer, Ubicini, who is the author of several 
works on Turkey, gives a total of 28,553,000 for Turkey 
proper, irrespective of its dependencies and tributaries 
in Europe and Africa. 

This estimate is believed to be quite within bounds, 
and receives confirmation from the following considera¬ 
tion : 

The regular army, exclusive of levies in mass,' re¬ 
serve corps, etc., is 134,000. As these retire into reserve 
corps after four years’ service, the annual quota is one- 
fourth of 134,000, or 33,500. Adding 4,000 more for 
the cavalry and artillery, the whole annual levy would 
be 37,500, which agrees exactly with the official state¬ 
ment. It is elsewhere stated that the quota in relation 
to the population is 1 in 182 of male adults. This gives 
male adults liable to conscription (37,500x182) 6,825,000. 
But it must be remembered that the capital and 
other favored districts, besides certain classes every¬ 
where, are exempt. Hence it may reasonably be as¬ 
sumed that 300,000 may be added to cover the exempted 
male adults. Multiplying, then, by the very conservative 
ratio of 1:4 of adult males to the whole population, the 
grand total cannot well be less than 7,125,000 x 4, or 
28,500,000. 

In the first of the subjoined tables, it has been thought 
advisable to give the Turkish Empire in its fullest ex¬ 
tent, including even Roumania, which has recently de¬ 
clared its independence. In the other two, Turkey by 
Races and Turkey by Religions, only Turkey proper is 
included—a difference in population of nearly 13,500,000. 

Table I. Turkey by Continents. 


Divisions. 

Square Miles. 

Population. 

European—Direct Governments.. 
Tributaries— 

B 2,340 

46,140 

16,820 

1,700 

197,000 

10,500,000 

4,530,000 

1,338,000 

132,000 

16,500,000 


Montenegro.. 

Total in Europe.. 

African—All Tributaries: 

Egwpt.. 

650,000 

340,000 

49,000 

1,039,000 

8,000,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

11,000,000 

Tripoli.. 

Tunis.... 

Total in Africa... 

Asiatic— 

664,000 

1,900,000 

16,500,000 

44,000,000 

Grand Totals.-. 


Race 

Turkish. 

Slavonic._ 

Persian.. 

Graeco-Latin 

Semitic. 

Georgian ... 

Hindu_ 

Total. 


Nationalities. 


Osmanlis .. 
Turkomans 
Tartars.... 


Total of 
Nationality 


13,500,000 ) 

300,000 V 

220,000 J 


Total of 
Race. 


14,020,000 


Bulgarians. 

Serbo-Croats_ 

Cossacks.. 

Lissovans .. 


3,000 000 
1,500,000 
32,000 
18,000 


4,550,000 


I 

I 


Armenians 

Kurds_ 

Druses_ 

Greeks.... 
Albanians 
Latins_ 


2,500,000 1 

1,000,000 v 3,620,000 
120,000 ) 

2,100,000 ) 

1,200,000 \ 3,520,000 

220,000 ) 


Arabs. 

Svro- Maronites.. 

Chaldaeans_ 

Jews... 


1,000,000 

293,000 

160,000 

158,000 


1,611,000 


Circassians 
Lazians_ 


1,000,000 

20,000 




1 , 020,000 


Gipsies 


212,000 


212,000 


28,553,000 


Table III. Turkey by Religions. 


Religion. 


Islam or Mo¬ 
hammedanism. • 
Total, 19,000,000 


Sect or Church. 


Nationalty. 


Member¬ 

ship. 


Sunnite 

or 

Orthodox.. 

Total, 

18,668,000. 


Osmanlis .... 
Turkomans .. 

Tartars. 

Albanians ... 

Arabs_ 

Circassians .. 

Kurds.. 

Serbo-Croats 

Bulgarians... 


13,500,000 

300,000 

220,000 

1,500,000 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

448,000 

150,000 


Shiite or He- ( 
retical.... j 
Total, 332,000. 


Greek .^... 
Total, 
3,282,000. 


Druses. 

Gipsies_ 

Greeks. 

Serbo-Croats .. 

Albanians. 

Staro-Viertzi .. 
Cossacks. 


120,000 

212,000 

2,030,000 

1,052,000 

150,000 

41,000 

9,000 


Christianity ... 
Total, 9,395,000" 


Armenian 

Bulgarian. 

Nestorian 

Jacobite 


Roman 

Catholic_ 

Total, 600,000. 


Armenians 
Bulgarians 
Chaldseans. 
Syrians .... 

Latins_ 

Maronites . 

Greeks_ 

Armenians 
Chaldaeans. 
Bulgarians 
Syrians .... 


2,910,000 

a .3 94 .ooo 

130,000 

65,000 

220,000 

220,000 

70,000 

45,000 

30,000 

7,000 

5,000 


Judaism 


Protestant 


Armenians, etc. 


14,000 


Jewish 


Jews 


15s,000 


Density. In some sections the population is quite 
dense, especially in the more fertile regions; but in the 
empire as a whole it is only twenty-three to the square 
mile, or but little more than twice that of the United 
States. In most old countries the proportion is much 
greatei —in Belgium, the most dense of all, it is 460 — 
and a large emigration may yet set in toward Turkey. 












































































































6 


ms to nr of turret. 


III. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 


Both European and Asiatic Turkey are traversed by 
several important mountain ranges, some of which are 
inferior only to the Himalayas, the Andes and the Alps. 
These ranges, with their many offshoots give a rugged 
character to large sections of the empire, but as they 
are everywhere separated by well watered and very fer¬ 
tile plains, often of great extent, there is ample room 
for much more than the present sparse population. The 
chief rivers of Turkey, the Danube, the Euphrates and 
the Tigris, are, in like manner, among the most impor¬ 
tant in the world; and altogether, few countries are more 
highly favored by nature than the territory of the Otto¬ 
man Empire. 

EUROPEAN TURKEY. 

This division is intersected from east to west by the 
Balkan Mountains and their continuation, the Dinaric 
Alps, while the Carpathian Mountains separate it (or 
rather its tributary state, Roumania) from the Austro- 
Hungarian Empire. To the south, the Pindus spreads 
in numerous ramifications into Greece. The regions 
north of the Balkan belong to the basin of the Danube; 
those to the south, to that of the Mediterranean. 

THE BALKAN MOUNTAINS. 

The Balkan (Hccrnus) Mountains, which are among 
the most important of the mountain systems of Europe, 
begin at Cape Ernineh (42° 41' by 27 0 58'), on the 
Black Sea, and extend to the Tchar Dagh (Scardus), a 
lofty peak 9,700 (42 0 by 21 0 10'). The main chain has 
an average elevation of 4,900 feet, with an occasional 
peak lifting its head to nearly twice that height. Two 
degrees east of the Tchar, a range branches out from the 
main system northwesterly toward the Danube, and this 
is sometimes called the North Balkan, but more distinct¬ 
ively the Stara Planina, or Planina Mts. Three subor¬ 
dinate ranges stretch southward from the main chain. 
The first is the Pindus (39 0 30' by 21 0 30'), culminating 
in Mt. Mezzovo, 8,950 feet high, connecting with Mt. 
Othrys on the northern frontier of Greece, and extend¬ 
ing in various offshoots through the whole of that pen¬ 
insula. The next is the Despoto Dagh {Rhodope), 7,800 
feet high (41 0 50 by 21 0 24'), which constitutes the 
southwestern boundary of the valley of the Maritza. 
The Istrandja Mountains (42 0 58' by 26° 30') extend 
southeasterly toward Constantinople. 

The Passes of the Balkans. 

There are nine passes through the Balkans, consisting of 
deep, narrow defiles, at very considerable elevation. Several 
of these are approachable by different routes ; and as a number 
of new passes might be improvised in an emergenc3' with the 
engineering appliances known to modern warfare, it would be 
probably safe to assume that the practicable routes across the 
range from Sophia to Varna are not less than a dozen. The 
approaches in every instance are long, steep ascents by the foot¬ 
hills and spurs of the great range, there being no pass at the 


level of the plains on either side. They may be best designated 
by the union of the two names of the more important cities from 
which the ascent begins on either side, as follows : 

1. Sopliia-Bazardjik. This is the most western of the 
regular passes, and is situated on the direct route from Constan¬ 
tinople, Adrianople and Philippopolis to Belgrade and the north - 
west of Europe. It has been sometimes called the Kapulu 
Derbend, and more anciently, Porta Trajani or Trajan’s Gate. 
Ba-zardjik is sometimes written with the prefix Tatar. 

2. L.ovcha-Kezanlik. This routd passes through Tro¬ 
yan, about five miles south of which the ascent begins, continu¬ 
ing for a mile and a half up a rather steep foot-hill. It then follows 
the more moderate grade of one of the spurs of the Balkans for 
four miles. After an interval of a quarter of a mile of woods, 
an abrupt ascent of half a mile takes the traveler to the ridge, 
whence by similar slopes on the opposite side the descent is 
made to Kczanlik. Lovcha is sometimes written Lovatz. 

3. Tirnova-Ke^anlik. This is another pass to the 
same southern terminus from a more easterly point of depar¬ 
ture on the north of the Balkans. This route is by Gabrova, on 
the Jantra, and the hill of Shibka. 

4. Tirnova-Slimno. This route leads from the same 
point on the northern flank to a more easterly terminus on the 
south of the Balkans, by the defile of Demirkapou or the Iron 
Gorge. It is high and difficult, and is deemed impracticable for 
cavalry and artillery. Slimno is also written Slivno, Selimno, 
Selimnia, Islamje and Islamdji. 

5. Osmanbazar-Slimno. This route reaches the south¬ 
ern side across the Kutchuk Balkan to Kasan, thence through 
the difficult defile of Demirkapou to Slimno. 

6. Osmanbazar-Karnabad. This route is the same as 
the preceding except that after traversing the Demirkapou the 
more easterly road to Karnabad is followed. 

7 . SUumla-Karnabatl. This route is one of the most 
frequented. It passes through Tchalikavak and Dabrol, along 
the banks of the Derbend, and though it presents some formi¬ 
dable difficulties, after leaving Karnabad on the way to Adrian¬ 
ople, by reason of the easily defended defile of Bujuk Derbend, 
it is on the whole one of the most eligible routes for an invad¬ 
ing army on the march to Constantinople. It is sometimes 
called the Nadir Derbend pass. 

8 . Kosladji-Aidos. This route passes through the 
narrow and difficult defile of Pravadi, the scene of a Russian 
victory over the Turks in 1SZ9, and thence by Kadikoi and Kap- 
rikoi to Aidos. For several miles this road runs through the 
narrow valley of a small stream with an unpronounceable 
name, the Delidjiderek, which is crossed and recrossed about 
forty times in a few miles. Another modification of this route is 
by Jenikoi and across the Delikamtchik to Aidos and thence to 
Burgas on the Black Sea. 

9. Varna-Burgas. This route passes through three or 
four miles of marsh south of Varna, crosses the Delikamtchik 
at Podbachi, and, traversing the deep valley of Kipdereh, 
reaches the ancient Mesembria on the Gulf of Burgas. 

THE DANUBE. 

The basin of the Danube includes an area of 300,000 
square miles, and is subdivided into four minor basins. 
The last of these, or the Plain of the Lower Danube, 
only, belongs to Turkey, and even of this an important 
portion (Bessarabia) now belongs to Russia, having been 
wrested from Turkey in 1812. The Danube is the larg¬ 
est river in Europe except the less central, and therefore 
less important, Volga. It is nearly eighteen hundred 


7 


PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 


miles long, from its triple source — the Brigach, Brege 
and Donau — in the Black Forest of Germany, to its 
quadruple mouth — the Kilia, Stamboul, Sulineh and 
Edrillis — in the Black Sea. It is navigable almost to 
its source, or to Ulm in Wurtemberg, except the sixty 
miles of rapids between Moldava and Gladova. The 
last of these rapids forms the passage of the Iron Gate, 
rendered navigable since 1849 to vessels drawing only 
seven feet of water. From this point to the sea, the 
current is gentle and the fall gradual, so that for the last 
hundred and sixty miles the great river presents the ap¬ 
pearance of a beautiful lake studded with islands. In 
its whole course the Danube receives not less than sixty 
navigable tributaries; and is therefore subject to great 
changes in its volume. The average difference between 
high and low water is not less than seventeen feet. 

From the earliest period known to authentic history, the 
Ister or Danube has been of great political and strategic impor¬ 
tance. Five hundred years before our era, its crossing and re¬ 
crossing constituted the military problems of Darius’s fruitless 
campaign against the Scythians. And the conquest of the 
Transdanubian Dacia by the Roman Empire, about six hundred 
years later, proved one of the most injudicious and disastrous 
steps in the career of that great power. The difficulty of main¬ 
taining intact the sacred territory of Rome, and the driving 
back of the god Terminus, the guardian of their frontiers, by 
barbarians in the open regions beyond the great river, did much 
toward lowering the prestige of the Roman name in the minds 
of the rude adventurers of the north. Throughout the pro¬ 
tracted struggle with those fierce hordes, both before and after 
Aurelian had finally withdrawn Terminus within the protection 
of that natural barrier, some five generations later, (A. D. 270) 
the Ister never ceased to be of the utmost strategic and political 
importance. Fame, fortune and even the imperial power itself 
were won and lost upon its banks. Since the Turkish conquest 
it has been the main line of national defense on the side of 
Europe, though the large tributary state of Roumania lies beyond 
it. Its right bank, being generally high, affords many excellent 
sites for fortresses and defensive works of various kinds, which 
have been generally utilized by the Turks. ' 

THE MARITZA. 

This river, known to the ancients as the Hebrus, is 
three hundred miles long from its source at the foot of 
Despoto Dagh t« its mouth in the Archipelago, and is 
navigable for one hundred miles to Adrianople, and to 
small vessels even as far as Philippopolis. It receives a 
considerable number of abluents, and its basin com¬ 
prises nearly the whole of the vilayet of Roumelia. 

From the time of Philip of Macedon’s invasion of Thrace 
in B. C. 342, the plain of the Hebrus has been the scene of many 
deadly conflicts. For how many ages previously it had fur¬ 
nished eligible battlefields for the mutual onslaughts of rude 
Thracian clans is unknown. The invading Goths from beyond 
the Danube here fought some of their most successful battles 
against the Roman Empire, from 249 to 269, capturing Philip¬ 
popolis and slaughtering 100,000 of its population in 250. 
Again, in 37S, Fritigern defeated the Romans at Adrianople, 
killing their Emperor Valens and many thousands of his army. 
Four hundred and thirty-five years later, Krum, king of the 
Bulgarians, here defeated the Greek Emperor Michael I. And 
here in 972, Bardas Sclerus defeated the combined forces of 


Bulgarians, Russians and other enemies of the Greek Empire. 
For the fourteen years (1361-75) after the Turks had obtained 
a foothold in Europe, it was the scene of repeated conflicts 
between them and the previous occupants, the Bulgarians, and 
their allies, the Servians, until both states submitted to pay 
tribute. In 1S29, it was won by the Russians, but surrendered 
at the peace of that year. 

THE BLACK SEA. 

The Black Sea (the Pontus Euxinus, or Hospitable 
Sea, of the ancients) is an ovate basin with an area of 
perhaps two hundred thousand square miles. The broad 
end abuts on European Turkey, and its greater diameter 
runs thence almost due east, seven hundred and twenty 
miles, to the mouth of the Rion (P/iasisJ, while its 
lesser diameter, from Constantinople to Odessa, is about 
half that length. The area drained by the Black Sea is 
among the largest drainage areas of the world, and is 
estimated at about one million square miles. 

The oval outline is broken on the north by the peninsula of 
the Crimea, and on the south by the gradual and rounded pro¬ 
jection of the coast line of Asia Minor, culminating near Sinope, 
where the opposite shores are only one hundred and sixty miles 
apart. 

Along the western and northwestern shores at ascertained 
distances from land the water varies in depth from one to three 
hundred feet; but close to the shore, wherever the land lies low, 
the water is too shallow for large vessels. Toward the middle 
of the basin the depth is several hundred feet, the greatest dis¬ 
covered depression being nearly 7,000 feet. The extent of this 
hollow, however, has not been ascertained. 

The water of the Black Sea is much less salt than that of 
the Mediterranean. There are no tides, but a sufficient move¬ 
ment is kept up by the winds as well as by a strong surface cur¬ 
rent that sets in toward the Mediterranean through the connect¬ 
ing channels. 

The northern shores, exposed to the arctic winds that freely 
career across the low steppes to the north, are generally ob¬ 
structed with ice in winter, while in summer the temperature 
rises to that of the more southern Mediterranean. 

THE BOSPORUS. 

The Strait or Channel of Constantinople was an¬ 
ciently called the Thracian Bosporus. The epithet 
Thracian distinguished it from the Cimmerian Bosporus, 
now the Strait of Yenikale. The name Bosporus, not 
Bosphorus, a compound Greek word, denoting ox (or 
cow) ford, is supposed to derive its origin from being so 
narrow that an ox could swim it; or because it was here 
that the mythic Io, transformed into a white cow, crossed 
from Asia into Europe. The channel is seventeen miles 
long and from half a mile to a mile and a quarter in 
width. The beautiful waters, lovely scenery and pleas¬ 
ant climate of the Bosporus have been much admired in 
all ages. ; 

Currents of the Bosporus. 

It is rather remarkable that while a strong central current, 
from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmora, prevails on the sur¬ 
face, there are two counter currents along the shores, carrying 
the heavier and more salt water of the Mediterranean into the 
Black Sea, and thus maintaining a uniform degree of saltness. 


8 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 

% 


The Fortifications. 

The two chief fortresses on the Bosporus are about midway 
between the Black Sea and Constantinople, and are the chief 
protection of the capital against a fleet operating from that 
direction. 

Roumelia Hissar, or Castle of Roumelia, is so called 
from the vilayet of that name on the European side, and is said 
to have been built in 1451, by Mohammed II., the conqueror of 
Constantinople. 

Anadoli Hissar, or Castle of Anatolia, derives its name 
from the viceregal province of Anatolia or Asia Minor, and 
was built by Mohammed I. 

SEA OF MARMORA. 

This body of water was called by the ancients Pro¬ 
pontis, from the Latin pro , in front of, and pontus 
(Euxinus understood) the Black Sea. The modern name 
is derived from one of its islands celebrated for its mar¬ 
ble ( martnor) quarries. It is of an irregular oval shape, 
the longer diameter being about one hundred and 
twenty, and the shorter about forty miles. The channel 
is remarkable for its depth, which in many places is over 
two thousand feet. 

Gulf of Izmid. 

This gulf runs inland thirty miles into Asia Minor to Izmid, 
the ancient Nicomedia, famous of old as the capital of Bithynia, 
and later, as the seat of Diocletian’s section of the Roman 
Empire. 

Princes’ Islands. 

These are a group of nine islands in the Gulf of Izmid, the 
largest being called Prinkipos, whence they probably derive 
their name. The scenery of the islands, and indeed of the 
whole vicinity, is tranquil, soft and mellow, but by no means 
tame, and picturesquely beautiful. The climate is mild and 
genial, and the islands are much frequented by visitors from 
Constantinople. 

STRAIT OF THE DARDANELLES. 

This channel which unites the Sea of Marmora with 
the Archipelago was called by the ancients Hellespont, 
or Sea of Helle, from a certain legend coupling it with 
the drowning of one Helle, a mythic personage of an¬ 
cient Greece. It is from three-fourths of a mile to two 
miles in width, and in length about forty miles. 

It is memorable in history for being crossed in B. C. 4S0 on 
a double bridge of boats by Xerxes, king of Persia and ruler of 
of the nations, with an army numbering, according to Herod¬ 
otus (VII., 60) 1,700,000 land forces, besides an immense navy, on 
his unsuccessful campaign against Greece. “The crossing 
continued during seven days and seven nights, without rest or 
pause.” It is equally memorable for the crossing of Alex¬ 
ander, B. C. 334, with a much smaller army, to revenge on Per¬ 
sia the insult offered to Greece by the invasion of Xerxes. But 
it is scarcely less celebrated for being passed on less deadly 
errands and in a less pretentious style by the persons thus com¬ 
memorated by Byron: 

“A better swimmer you could scarce see ever, 

He could perhaps have passed the Hellespont— 

As once (a feat on which ourselves we prided) 

Leander, Mr. Ekenhead, and I did.” 


ARCHIPELAGO. 

Better known to the ancients, and not unknown to 
the moderns, as the /Egean Sea, this body of water is 
but a section of the great Mediterranean, the portion 
of it lying between Greece and Asia Minor. The name 
Archipelago is perhaps derived from two Greek words 
denoting chief sea, as being the one of greatest interest 
to the Greeks. It is however conjectured by some that 
the name was originally Argeiopelagos, Argive Sea, or 
Argapelagos, White Sea, which is also its modern Turk¬ 
ish name. This conjecture receives confirmation from 
the fact that the Greeks were not ignorant that the 
Mediterranean proper was a much larger body of wa¬ 
ter, and better entitled to be called the chief sea. It 
was called Higean probably from the Greek word aigis, 
a squall, because much subject to such visitations. Other 
derivations connect it with sundry mythic heroes and 
legends of Greece, as .Egeus of Athens, in which sense 
it would be equivalent to Athenian Sea. Its length is 
four hundred, and breadth two hundred, miles. The 
channel is very deep, being in many parts over twelve 
hundred feet. 

Its Islands. 

The chief islands of the archipelago are grouped in two 
clusters, the Cyclades and Sporades. 

Cyclades, so called because presenting a circular ( cyclos) 
appearance along the eastern coast of Greece, are quite numer¬ 
ous, but as they do not now belong to Turkey, they do not here 
require mention. 

Sporades, from speiro, I sow seed or scatter, because scat¬ 
tered along the coast of Asia Minor, are also quite numerous, 
and some of the more important will be treated of under the 
proper head. Rhodes, Cos, Patmos, Samos, Scio, Lemnos, Im- 
bros, Samothrace and others belong to this group. 

From the great number of islands in this sea, it has become 
customary to designate any body of water extensively studded 
with islands by the same name, as the Malay or Indian Archi¬ 
pelago. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that the Greek Archipelago 
has had a very stirring history of its own. From the time when 
the autochthonous pirates of the Aigean preyed upon Phoeni¬ 
cian commerce, until the Venetian Duchy of Naxos was extin¬ 
guished by the Turks in 1566, it has been the scene of many a 
sea fight, whose influence was widely felt, and tended not a 
little to shape the destinies of nations. 

CANDIA, OR CRETE. 

Canrlia ( Krete) or Crete, situated south of the Archi¬ 
pelago (34 0 55' to 35 0 43' north latitude, and 23 0 30' to 
26° 20' east longitude) is the principal island of Euro¬ 
pean Turkey. It is almost 150 miles long by from six to 
thirty-five miles wide, and has an area of 3,300 square 
miles. The population is 200,000, of whom more than 
five-eights are Greeks, and the remainder mostly Turks. 
Candia has plains and valleys of considerable extent, 
well watered and of great fertility. Its hillsides are 
covered with forests, where the wild boar and goat, as 
well as wolf, still roam at large. Among its mountains 
the most famous is Mt. Psiloriti [Ida) about 8,000 feet 
high, but the loftiest peak of its White Mountains is 







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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHT. 


9 


perhaps ioo feet higher. The pastures are good, and 
the cattle abundant. Wheat, barley and oats are grown; 
also flax and cotton. Grapes, oranges, lemons and 
other fruits are abundant throughout the island. Its 
chief commercial products are olive oil, raisins, wax, 
honey, wool and silk, besides sponges, which are found 
of an excellent quality along its coast. 

From the very earliest ilawn of history, Crete has had a 
place in the records of the nations. Many of the myths of 
primeval Greece cluster around it ; and even older than the 
Grecian name are the‘traditions of Minos of Crete, not to men¬ 
tion his father Jupiter, or grandfather Saturn, both of whom 
had the honor of ruling over the snug little island. It once had 
ninety cities, according to Homer, and it must have been a 
great commercial center of primitive times, as its agricultural 
facilities would not require or justify any such number. 

Like everything else west of the Euphrates that was at all 
worth absorbing, this island was consolidated with the Roman 
Empire in B. C. 66. At the division of the empire in A. 
D. 39S it fell to the eastern section, and constituted a part there¬ 
of until wrested from it by the Saracens in 813. In 1204 it fell 
under the sway of the Latin conquerors of Constantinople, and 
was given to Boniface of Montferrat, who sold it to the Vene¬ 
tians. These held it for four hundred and sixty-five years, when 
it fell to the Turks after a war of twenty-four years, a blockade 
of thirteen, and a two years’ siege of the capital. The destruc¬ 
tion of human life in this struggle is said to have been not less 
than 150,000 men, of whom four-fifths fell on the side of the 
Turks. In 1867, two hundred years after that memorable siege, 
the Cretans were again in arms against the Turks; and, though 
Italy, France, Prussia and Russia solicited the cession of Crete 
to the kingdom of Greece, Turkey refused to surrender the 
island, but granted an amnesty to the insurgents the following 
year. 

ASIATIC TURKEY. 

The physical characteristics of the extensive regions 
embraced in Asiatic Turkey are striking and various; 
and it will be necessary to confine what can here be said 
to a few of the more salient features. 

The Mountain Ranges. 

By a glance at the accompanying map of the Black 
Sea and adjoining regions, it will be obvious how very 
mountainous the country is; the more difficult problem 
will be to see where the valleys are. There are, how¬ 
ever, many extensive, well watered and fertile valleys 
throughout the whole of the Turkish territory in Asia. 
Indeed the desert and waste portions of western Asia 
were left to Arabia, when they might easily have been 
incorporated, if it had been thought desirable. Not¬ 
withstanding the number of her mountains, the natural 
advantages of Turkey for agriculture as well as com¬ 
merce are nowhere surpassed. 

Ararat. The highest mountain of Asiatic Turkey, but be¬ 
longing to it only conjointly with Russia and Persia, is Mount 
Ararat, celebrated in the religious traditions of many nations, 
and consecrated in our Bibles, as the “horn of salvation” to 
Noah, the second progenitor of the human race. It is about 
seventeen thousand feet above sea level, and fourteen thousand 
above the level of the Aras River, which flows at its base. 

Taurus. —The average height of the Taurus range, includ¬ 
ing its continuation, the Antitaurus, is about four thousand 


feet, but its highest peak, Mount Argams or Arjish Dagli, 
rises to thirteen thousand feet. 

Lebanon. —This range, the Libanus of the ancients, with 
the parallel chain of Antilibanus, are the chief mountains of 
Syria, and run from north to south at an average distance 
apart of only ten miles, and both parallel with the sea coast, 
while portions of the Libanus range abut on the water’s edge, 
and at no point is it very far inland. More than one peak rises 
to a height of nine thousand feet, and Mt. Hermon, the loftiest 
of all, is perhaps ten thousand; but the average elevation of 
the range is only four thousand feet. 

The Chief Rivers. 

Tigris and Euphrates, famous in story, upon whose 
banks arose some of the earliest and grandest empires of anti¬ 
quity, arc, throughout their entire length, within the limits of 
Asiatic Turkey. The Euphrates is about seventeen hundred 
miles long, the Tigris about twelve hundred, and their united 
streams, or the Shat-el-Arab, run one hundred miles from the 
junction to the Persian Gulf. 

Kizil Irmak, more historic as the ancient Halys, is the 
longest river in the western section, emptying into the Black Sea 
after a remarkably circuitous sweep of five hundred miles. 

Sakaria, mentioned in the Iliad, was celebrated of old, 
under the name of Sangarius, as the boundary between the im¬ 
portant states of Bithynia andPhrygia. 

Jordan, famous because of its religious associations, and 
about which more has probably been written than on all the 
rivers of the world besides, is only about one hundred miles 
long in a direct line, but as its channel is very tortuous, the 
actual length is probably two hundred miles. Being entirely 
inland, it is of no strategic importance. 

Minor Rivers. —Several of these were of great impor¬ 
tance in more ancient times, when the territorial areas of inde¬ 
pendent states were comparatively insignificant. The Maean- 
der, Scamander, Cayster, Hermus, Caicus and others have been 
celebrated in song and story for three thousand years. They 
constitute the drainage of beautiful and fertile valleys, but are 
of no striking political or military interest. 

THE PERSIAN GULF. 

The head of this gulf lies at the extreme southeastern limit 
of the Turkish Empire, and separates Arabia from Persia. 
With its outer continuation, tire Sea of Oman, it forms an im¬ 
portant division of the Arabian Sea, and may become the goal 
of Russia’s advance through Asiatic Turkey. It has an area of 
about one hundred thousand square miles, and contains several 
important islands, viz.: Bahrein Islands, Ormuz, Kishem, Ka- 
rak and Busheab. Along the western or Arabian shore is one 
of the most extensive and valuable of the pearl fisheries of 
the world. , 

THE PRINCIPAL ISLANDS. 

The islands that belong to Turkey in Asia comprise 
Samos, Cyprus, Rhodes, Cos, Chios and others, all more 
famous in ancient times than at present. 

Samos. 

This island of the /Egean Sea is situated between 
latitude 37° 35' and 37048' north, and longitude 26° 36' 
and 27 0 8' east. It is about twenty-seven miles long and 
eight broad, covering an area of two hundred and thir¬ 
teen square miles, or about eight hundred and fifty Amer¬ 
ican farms of one hundred and sixty acres each. The 
area of the whole island is only six times that of the 
city of Chicac^, and not quite double that of London. 


IO 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


Samos, though territorially insignificant, has a history that 
suggests Goldsmith’s description of the schoolmaster in his 
“Deserted Village:” 

“And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew 
That one small head could carry all he knew.” 

Sixteen generations before our era, under its “tyrant” 
Polycrates (B. C. 533-22), Samos held dominion of the sea, and 
was one of the most important of the Asiatic-Greek states. It 
was afterward tributary to Persia until the victory of Mycale 
in 479, when it fell to Athens. Indirectly subject to Alexander 
the Great, it was wrested from Athens by Perdiccas, regent of 
Macedonia, after the death of Alexander, in 323, but was re¬ 
stored to Athens by the regent Polysperchon in 319. It was for 
some time subject to the dominion of the Ptolemies of Egypt, 
but fell under the supremacy of Rhodes before 200. It severed 
that connection, and sided with Antiochus the Great in his gal¬ 
lant but unsuccessful struggle (198-SS) against Roman aggres¬ 
sion in the East. With the other Greek states it became sub¬ 
ject to Rome in 146. True to its instinct of independence, it 
espoused the cause of Mithridates the Great in 88, but was 
finally subjugated by Rome in 84. It won the favor of the 
future Augustus, who wintered there after his decisive victory 
of Actium, and he made it a free state in 30. Vespasian, how¬ 
ever, deprived it of self-government A. D. 72. Afterward it 
followed the destinies of the Roman Empire, and of the 
eastern portion, at the division thereof. In the ninth century 
it was conquered by the Saracens, but it was wrested from them 
by the Venetians in 1125. It fell to the Turks in 1459; and was 
severely punished by them in 1550, being almost entirely de¬ 
populated and recolonized. For nearly three centuries Samos 
was unheard of in the history of the world, until the struggle 
for Greek independence, 1S21-9. No section of the Greeks 


proved more patriotic on that occasion, but at the peace they 
were surrendered to Turkey. Samos is, however, no longer 
incorporated with Turkey, but enjoys (?) an anomalous quasi¬ 
independent relation. It is governed by a member of the Greek 
family of Vogorides, with the title of “Prince of Samos,” and 
pays a yearly tribute of about giS.ooo to Turkey. 

Cyprus is a large and beautiful island in the easternmost 
reach of the Mediteranean, between latitude 34 0 47' and 35 0 41', 
and longitude 32 0 24' and 34° 35 / , having a length of about one 
hundred and forty-eight miles and a width of about forty. It has 
two mountain ranges along its northern and southern coasts, 
with a well watered and very fertile plain between them. The 
population is about one hundred thousand, of whom perhaps 
seven-tenths are Greeks, five-twentieths Turks, and the remain¬ 
der Armenian and Latin Christians. Its population was much 
greater in former times, and is again on the increase. It has 
some manufactories, and produces excellent fruits and vegeta¬ 
bles; but agriculture is backward, having been much neglected 
except in the immediate neighborhood of the towns and cities. 

Rhodes, an equally beautiful but smaller island, at the en¬ 
trance of the Archipelago, is situated between latitude 35 0 53' 
and 36° 2S / , and longitude 27 0 4c/ and 28° 12'. Rhodes is said to 
have succeeded Thrace in the “dominion of the sea” (the Med¬ 
iteranean), B. C. 913 to B. C. 891; but, independently of this 
uncertain and rather mythic supremacy, Rhodes was certainly a 
center of civilization and prosperity from a remote period. 
Toward the close of the Middle Ages it was also famous for 
two centuries (1310-1523) as the stronghold of that politico-reli¬ 
gious organization known as the Knights of St. John, after 
their expulsion from the Holy Land. Its population is esti¬ 
mated at thirty thousand, and its area at four hundred and 
twenty square miles. 


IV. THE CHIEE CITIES. 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Built A. D. 325-32, by Constantine the Great, from 
whom it derives its name, upon or near the site of the 
ancient Byzantium, the renowned capital of the Turkish 
Empire stands second to none in excellence of location 
or beauty of natural environage. The city which it 
replaced had been itself famous, and had lasted one 
thousand years from its colonization by the Greeks, and 
not improbably had but replaced an older city of the 
Thracians. Constantinople is a natural seat of empire 
and center of commerce, and its importance was early 
comprehended by the traders and rulers of antiquity, 
and is no less fully recognized by the existing nations. 
Situated on the long chain of straits that connect the 
Mediterranean with the Black Sea, and divide Europe 
from Asia, the location of Constantinople is at once po¬ 
litically important, commercially advantageous and 
picturesquely beautiful, as well as easy of defense 
against an enemy. Napoleon I. is credited with having 
said that “ the power which possesses Constantinople 
must be mistress of the world.” 

It is called by the Turks Stamboul,^or Istamboul, 


and has been the capital of their empire since its con¬ 
quest in 1453, as it had been of the East-Roman Em¬ 
pire for a thousand years before. It has the Chan¬ 
nel of Constantinople or Thracian Bosporus to the east, 
and the Golden Horn (an arm of the Bosporus, which 
runs five miles inland, making a safe, commodious and 
beautiful harbor) on the north. Constantinople is sur¬ 
rounded by a wall of about thirteen miles in length, in 
which are twenty-eight gates. 

The proud city of New Rome, as it was sometimes 
called, rivaled the Old Rome in the number of its hills, 
and, studded as it is with numerous gardens, mosques, 
minarets, palaces and towers, presents a beautiful appear¬ 
ance. The scenery along the banks of the Bosporus 
forms a magnificent setting for the central gem, the 
capital; and taken altogether, there is, perhaps, no more 
beautiful spot to be found anywhere. But on a nearer 
approach and a closer inspection the charm is dissipated 
by the narrow, uncleanly, crowded streets, and the com¬ 
monplace residences, mostly of wood or mud. Within 
the last twenty years, however, considerable improve¬ 
ment has taken place in this respect. Constantinople 



THE CHIEF CITIES. 


I1 


has been long notable for the frequency of its conflagra¬ 
tions, and it has been very generally believed by the 
Western Europeans, that a fire in Constantinople was 
something like a revolution in Paris, liable to occur at 
any time when bread was dear or the people disapproved 
of the policy of the government. Three great fires in 
1865, 1866 and 1870, have given an opportunity for re¬ 
building the city to a considerable extent; and this has 
been done in a much superior style. Whole districts are 
embellished with stone houses and wider streets, giving 
the city the appearance of a western capital. The 
population is about eight hundred thousand; nearly 
one-half Turks, Arabs and other Mohammedans; one- 
fourth Greeks, Syrians, Armenians; one-eighth Franks, 
that is West-Europeans; perhaps one-tenth Jews, and 
a small percentage comprising representatives of almost 
every race and nation under the sun. 

Mosques. 

There are twenty-four mosques of the first class in 
Constantinople, the principal ones being those of St. 
Sophia, of Aclcmet, of Mohammed II., of Solyman the 
Magnificent, and of Eyub. 

St. Sophia.—Originally a Christian church built by Con¬ 
stantine the Great when he selected Byzantium as the future 
capital of his empire, and rebuilt by Justinian A. D. 532, it was 
turned into a mosque by Mohammed II., the Turkish conqueror 
of Constantinople, in 1453; and was entirely renovated by Abdul 
Mcdjid I., in 1S47. Its dimensions are two hundred and 
sixty-nine by two hundred and forty-three feet, in the form of 
a Greek cross. Nearly six years were consumed in building it, 
and a like number in rebuilding, while ten thousand masons laid 
the original structure, mainly of brick. It is surmounted by a 
flattened dome, one hundred and seven feet in diameter, and 
with an elevation of one hundred and eighty feet from the floor 
to the apex. This dome is supported on four great arches, and 
is perforated with twenty-four windows. One hundred and 
eighty-four pillars ornament the interior and sustain the roof. 
Of these, eight are prophyrv, said to have been brought from 
the temple of the Sun at Rome; six are green jasper from the 
temple of Diana at Ephesus; twenty-four granite from some 
Egyptian temple; and eight are green marble, besides a forest 
of less conspicuous columns. The wealth of adornment lavished 
on St. Sophia, in the days of its greatness, as the mother cathe¬ 
dral of the whole Greek Church, the rival of the Roman, was 
simply enormous. A thousand years of imperial liberality and 
popular devotion made it a mine of treasure for its Moslem con¬ 
querors. 

Mosque of Ackmet.—Four marble pillars, each in three 
massive sections, eighteen feet in diameter, support its dome. 
Two enormous candelabras with wax candles ten feet in height, 
several highly ornamented koran-stands and four costly emerald 
lamps suspended from the roof by chains of gold, are among 
the most conspicuous features of the interior. But the grandest 
characteristic is its function as the sacred treasure-house of the 
capital. In its gallery is to be seen a pile of boxes heaped to¬ 
gether promiscuously, which are believed to contain immense 
amounts of treasure. For centuries it has been the “safety de¬ 
posit vaults ” of Stamboul. Each family or individual takes his 
box of valuables to its sheltering embrace, and takes away its 
contents in part or altogether, when it seemeth good to him so 
to do. There is no let or hindrance, no check or label, nothing 
but a popular sense of sacredness to guard this immense accu¬ 
mulation of wealth. No revolution, deposition of sultan, civil 


commotion or mob-riot, nor even the necessities of the govern¬ 
ment, often urgent, has ever molested this sanctuary of the peo¬ 
ple. Neither guards nor watchmen, police officers nor military 
sentinels guard it; the magnificent sense of religious sacred- 
ness is superior to bolts, bars and muskets. 

Five hundred mosques of the second class and perhaps as 
many thousands of the smaller prayer houses, beside the many 
Christian churches of every name, and Jewish synagogues, 
certainly entitle Constantinople to be regarded as preeminently 
a city of churches. 

Calling' to Prayer. 

If it be remembered that five times a day a muezzin, or in¬ 
ferior priest, ascends each of these five or six hundred larger 
mosques, and calls the people to prayer, one must confess 
that Constantinople is also a godly city. It is universally ad¬ 
mitted by travelers that the religious character of the people is 
marked by the utmost sincerity, and that the pious usages of 
their faith are deeply reverenced. Even the sultan must go 
publicly to worship every Friday, at least. 

Other Public Institutions. 

Two thousand public baths, two hundred hospitals (forty- 
eight of them military khans or caravansaries), several fine 
public fountains, a large number of soup houses and an insane 
asylum, contribute to promote human happiness or alleviate 
human suffering. Three solid Roman aqueducts, built by 
Hadrian, Constantine and Valens, have furnished the city with 
water for more than fifteen hundred years. 

Other characteristic curiosities are the royal cistern or “cis¬ 
tern of a thousand columns,” (though of only three hundred and 
thirty-six in reality), built by Justinian, thirteen hundred and 
fifty years ago, the slave market, the Seven Towers or state 
prison, and the bazars. 

The Dogs. 

A singular feature of Constantinopolitan life is the count¬ 
less multitudes of dogs. They are owned, or rather not owned, 
by the city, and do a large share of its scavenger work. They 
are without individual masters, and sleep in doorways, on refuse 
heaps or wherever they can find a vacant corner. The city is 
districted by them, and a dog from another quarter is driven 
back or worried to death. They make night hideous by an in¬ 
cessant barking; which, however, seems to serve as a soothing 
lullaby to the native residents. 

OTHER IMPORTANT CENTERS. 

European Turkey. 

Edreneh (Ihdriiviopolis), or Adrianople, is pleas¬ 
antly situated (4l°4i' north, 26° 35' east), partly on a 
hill and partly on the banks of the Tundja, near its 
confluence with the Maritza. Next to the capital it is 
the most important city of the empire, and was itself 
the capital for eighty-seven years before the taking of 
Constantinople. The population is about one hundred 
and forty thousand. Like other ancient cities, the 
streets are crooked and narrow, and are not remarkable 
for cleanliness. Its ancient citadel, walls and fortifica¬ 
tions, as well as the more recent Eski Serai, or old 
palace, have been suffered to fall into decay, and the city 
fell an easy prey to the Russians in 1829. On the plains 
of Adrianople was fought one of the most memorable 
battles of the declining Roman Empire, in 378, when forty 


12 


HIS TORT OF TURRET. 


thousand Romans, with the Emperor Valens at their 
head, were slain by the victorious Goths. 

The city has one of the most magnificent mosques 
outside of Constantinople, erected by Selim II. It has 
also numerous baths, caravansaries and bazars, and car¬ 
ries on an active general trade in manufactured goods 
and raw products. Its aqueduct and fine stone bridge 
are worthy of notice. Its port is Enos, at the mouth of 
the Maritza, but in the winter and spring the river is 
navigable to the city. 

Saloniki ( Thessalonica) is favorably situated 40 0 38' 
north, 22 0 57' east) at the head of a gulf of the same name, 
and has a population of about one hundred thousand. 
It is a city of considerable manufactures, and perhaps 
second in commercial importance in European Turkey. 

On the east of the Gulf of Saloniki, the remarkable 
three forked peninsula of Chalcis runs into the sea; on 
the most eastern of these prongs is Mt. Athos, rising at 
its highest point to six thousand three hundred and fifty 
feet, famous in ancient story for its dangerous storms 
and the canal of Xerxes, and in modern times for its 
twenty-three monasteries, its five hundred chapels and 
seven thousand monks of the Greek church. Within 
this monastic territory no woman is allowed to enter, 
and it has been not inaptly styled the Old Bachelors’ 
Paradise. 

Gallipoli ( Callipolis) is situated (40 0 24' north, 26° 
40' east) on the peninsula of the same name, which forms 
the western boundary of the Strait of the Dardanelles. 
It has a population of about twenty-five thousand, and 
is noted for its manufacture of the famous Turkey mor- 
rocco leather. 

Yenishehr ( Larissa ), or New Town, the capital of 
Thessaly, “standsin an oasis of trees and verdure in the 
midst of a plain of sand” (39°37' north, 21° 28' east), on 
the Selembria River, and is still enclosed by walls. The 
population is about twenty-five thousand, and the place 
is celebrated for its red dye. 

Monastir (41 0 north, 2i°2o' east), is the capital 
of Macedonia, and the residence of the Vali, or Viceroy. 
It is also a great military center, being the headquarters 
of the third army corps, one of the seven grand divisions 
of Turkish troops. It is favorably situated on the bor¬ 
der of a fine plain, in a sweep of the Niji Mountains, 
on a tributary of the Vardar, and commands the route 
between Macedonia and Albania. The population is 
about thirty thousand civilians, mostly Greeks, and its 
military character gives rise to a good deal of commer¬ 
cial activity. There are also some local manufactures, 
and it is a distributing center for a large area. 

Ochrida (Scodra), or Skutari, in Albania (lat. 42 0 
north, Ion. 19 0 38' east), situated at the southern ex¬ 
tremity of a lake of the same name, is a place of con¬ 
siderable trade, and has some shipyards and manufac¬ 
tories of fire arms, beside the usual articles of Turkish 
commerce already mentioned. The population is about 
forty-five thousand. 


Yanina (Eurcca) is located on the western shore 
of the lake of the same name (30 0 48' north, 21 0 east), 
and is the capital of Epirus. Its population is about 
thirty-five thousand, and its trade and manufactures are 
on the decline. 

Eosna Serai, the capital of Bosnia, is situated (43 0 
54' north, 18° 24' east) on the Migliazza, and is the com¬ 
mercial center of the inland trade with the Austro-Hun¬ 
garian Empire. It is a stronghold of Turkish influence 
and Mohammedanism, two-thirds of its population of 
sixty thousand belonging to the faith of the empire. 
There are considerable manufactures — among others, 
of iron goods, owing to the extensive iron mines in the 
vicinity. 

Sophia, situated (42 0 37' north, 23 0 26' east) on 
the great route between Constantinople and the West 
of Europe, is the capital of Bulgaria. It lies on the 
northern slope of the Balkans, and is the center of a 
large inland trade. Its population is fifty thousand and 
it produces the customary Turkish manufactures, mo¬ 
rocco leather, silk and woolen goods, tobacco and iron. 

Widin, with a population of twenty-five thousand, is 
now the most western of the strongholds on the Danube. 
Until the recent declaration of independence by Rouma- 
nia, Ivalafat held that relation. It is a center of civil and 
ecclesiastical administration; and is a place of great re¬ 
puted strength, its “ virgin fort ” having never been cap¬ 
tured. The fortifications were strengthened during the 
Crimean war. It was first conquered by the Turks ten 
years before the taking of Constantinople. It was tem¬ 
porarily wrested from them in 1689, by the imperialists 
under prince Louis of Baden, but was recovered by the 
Turks the ensuing year. The Austrians unsuccessfully 
besieged it in 1737. A curious episode in its history 
was the successful rebellion of Osman Passwan Oglou, 
at the head of some of the disaffected Janizaries, in 
1797* He withstood a five months’ siege by the troops 
of the sultan in 1798, and secured recognition as Pacha 
of Widin, which position he held until his death, in 
1807. Turkish troops were collected here in large 
numbers in 1876, to operate against Servia, and it is an 
important center of operations in the present war. 

Rahova, a small place with a few thousand inhabi¬ 
tants, is perhaps worthy of mention as one of the possi¬ 
ble points of crossing the Danube in the approaching 
Russian invasion. 

Nikopoli, the Nikopolis ad Istrum , or city of vic¬ 
tory on the Danube, founded by Trajan A. D. 102 to 
commemorate his victory over the Dacian Decebalus, 
has a population of ten thousand. It is situated favorably 
for defense, being built on a commanding height, well 
fortified by an encircling rampart, and possessing a cit¬ 
adel that is well supplied with guns of the largest cal¬ 
ibre. It was a city of victory to the Turks over the 
Hungarians in 1396, to the Russians over the Turks in 
1811, and again to the same in 1829, by the destruction 
of a Turkish .flotilla in its vicinity. 


THE CHIEF CITIES. 


r 3 


Sistova, with about twenty thousand inhabitants, is 
another of the recognized strongholds on the Turkish 
side of the Danube. It has the usual fortifications, with 
citadel. A treaty between Austria and Turkey was 
signed here in 1791; and it was also the scene of a Turk¬ 
ish defeat by the Russians in 1810. 

Rustckuck, with a population of thirty thousand, is 
one of the strongholds on the Danube, being situated 
on a steep and well fortified bank, commanding the op¬ 
posite shore. It has been described as a wretched 
place without a single good bazar or cafe, or a single 
respectable edifice of any description. It h|s, how¬ 
ever, been a strategic point of much prominence in all 
the Russo-Turkish wars, in 1773, 1774, 1790, as well as 
in 1810 and 1828. In 1810, after being twice stormed, 
it was forced to capitulate. In 1S11 the Turks defeated 
the Russians in its vicinity, and compelled them to 
evacuate. By treaty of 1829, it was dismantled, but 
was again fortified on the breaking out of the Crimean 
War; and now promises to become again prominent in 
the present war. 

Turtukai is another of the smaller Turkish fortified 
towns on the Danube, of but little consequence unless 
destined to become famous by the crossing of the enemy, 
or other military event in the impending conflict. 

Silistria, with a population of twenty-five thousand, 
is one of the strongest of the defensive points on the Dan¬ 
ube. The fortifications are solidly built, besides being 
strengthened by several detached forts. The hill of 
Akbar is surmounted by the formidable fort of Abdul- 
Medjid, which is regarded as one of best military works 
of this or any other age. Long before Russia had any 
pretensions to be regarded as a great power, Sviatoslaf, 
grandson of Ruric, was here defeated by the Greeks un¬ 
der John Zimisces in 976. During the Austro-Turkish 
war of 1593-1603, it was burnt by the Turks, in 1595. 
It repulsed the Russians in 1773, 1779, and 1809, but 
capitulated in 1810. It resisted a five months’ siege by 
the Russians in 1828, but they took it by storm the ensu¬ 
ing year, under Diebitsch, surnamed Sabalkanski or 
Transbalkanian for his successful passage of the Bal¬ 
kans. It was, however, evacuated at the peace which 
followed. In 1849 its fortifications were renewed and 
strengthened, and again in 1853. The following year 
the Russians fruitlessly besieged it for thirty days. 

Rassova, a small place situated on the Danube 
where it sweeps to the north, derives it chief importance 
from being the western terminus of the famous barrier, 
partly natural and in part artificial, known as Trajan’s 
Wall. 

Tchernavoda. This place, which is a little farther 
north than Rassova, is given by some authorities as the 
western terminus of Trajan’s Wall. 

Kustendji (Constantiana), the other terminus of 
Trajan’s Wall, is a fortified Turkish town and port on 
the Black Sea. It exports considerable corn, but the 
harbor is much exposed and ill adapted for large vessels. 


Trajan’s Wall. 

This is a line of fortifications the original construc¬ 
tion of which is attributed to the Roman Emperor, Tra¬ 
jan, about A. D. 102. It stretches across the Dobrudja, 
a distance of forty miles, from the great bend of the 
Danube to the Black Sea. The barrier comprises a 
double, and in some places a triple, rampart of earth, 
about ten feet high, but occasionally nearly twice as 
much, with a swamp and a chain of small lakes 
on the northern side. This valley, or marshy depres¬ 
sion, was long supposed to have been an old channel of 
the river, but the theory has been disproved by closer 
and more scientific observation. It has, however, been 
deemed feasible to cut a canal through it, to form a 
more direct connection with the sea; but the expense 
has hitherto delayed the execution of the project. Dur¬ 
ing the Crimean War, the Russians seized the territory 
north of the wall, but were twice repulsed in their at¬ 
tempts to pass it. 

Babadagh. with ten thousand inhabitants, Hir- 
sova with five thousand, besides Matchin, Tcliardak 
and Isakdji, where the Russians crossed in 1828, are 
of some importance in war times, from lying in the 
way of an invading army descending the Dobrudja, and 
being more or less fortified. They however did not op¬ 
pose any effectual hindrance to the Russians in 1853-4- 

Tuldja is situated on the Danube, about forty miles 
from the sea, a little above the divergence of the Suli- 
neh and the Edrillis (or St. George’s) mouths. Its 
proximity to the frontier, and its relation to the Do¬ 
brudja, of which it is one of the fortified defenses, make 
it a place of considerable strategic importance. Com¬ 
mercially, also, it has risen into notice since the Crimean 
War. 

Shumla, with a population of fifty thousand, is the 
northern terminus of one of the most frequented passes 
of the Balkans, being on the great route from Wallachia 
to Constantinople. It is a place of great strength, being 
situated in a gorge of the Balkans, and enclosed on three 
sides by mountains, besides possessing an elaborate sys¬ 
tem of fortifications and a citadel. It has successfully 
resisted the Russians in 1774, 1810 and 1828. There 
are several manufactories of the usual Turkish products, 
besides clothing for the bazars of Constantinople. 

Varna, the northern terminus of another of the 
Balkan routes, as well as the seaport of the Black Sea, 
has a population of fifteen thousand. It is' fortified with 
an encircling wall of stone ten feet high, besides some 
batteries and outworks. It has an annual export trade 
of about $4, ocxd , ooo , consisting chiefly of grain, poultry 
and eggs. It was the scene of a memorable defeat of 
Huniades and his Hungarians by the Turks in 1444. 
It was taken by the Russians in 1828. 

Burgas is a seaport of Turkey on the Black Sea, 
and the chief one between the Bosporus and the 
Danube. It is favorably situated on a gulf, which is 
fourteen miles deep, and affords an excellent harbor for 


H 


HIS TORT OR RURKET. 


trading vessels of any size, as well as ample and safe 
anchorage for the largest fleet. The importance of 
Burgas, in a military point of view, may perhaps be 
tested in the present war, but it has hitherto played no 
important part in Russo-Turkish conflicts. 

Sizeboli (Sozopolis , and previously Apollonia), at 
the entrance of the Gulf of Burgas, is on the site of an 
ancient Greek city, and is still largely inhabited by 
Greeks, who carry on a considerable maritime trade. 
It was taken by the Russians in 1829. 

Asiatic Turkey. 

Smyrna, on a gulf of the same name, forming an 
inlet of the ^Egean Sea ; Trebizond, on the southeastern 
shore of the Black Sea; Beyrout, on the eastern shore 
of the Mediterranean; Basra, on the Shat-el-Arab, 
fifty miles above the head of the Persian Gulf: are the 
chief centers of maritime commerce in Asiatic Turkey. 

The inland trade has also certain great centers, such 
as Bagdad and Diarbekir on the Tigris, Erzeroum in Ar¬ 
menia, Kaisariyeh and Konieh in Asia Minor, and 
Aleppo and Damascus in Syria. 

Smyrna has a population of about one hundred 
and fifty thousand, and is one of the important com¬ 
mercial centers of the world. Its traffic is mostly con¬ 
ducted by West-Europeans, or Franks as they are called, 
viz: Italian, French, German, Dutch, English and others. 
It is a place of great antiquity, being reputed as old as 
the time of Solomon, and has been a place of great 
importance for many ages. 

Trebizond (Trapezus) is a place of much historic 
interest. It is the point where the “Ten Thousand 
Greeks,” under Xenophon, struck the Euxine on their re¬ 
treat from Persia. On the conquest of Constantinople 
by the Latins in 1204, it became the capital of a rem¬ 
nant of the Greek Empire known as the Empire of 
Trebizond. It survived the fall of Constantinople eight 
years, when it too became subject to the Osmanlis in 
1461. Its population is estimated at forty thousand, 
mostly Mohammedans. 

Beyrout ( Berytus ), in latitude 33 0 54' north, lon¬ 
gitude 35 0 26' east, is the port of Damascus, and the 
most flourishing city in Syria. Saida (Sidon) and Tsur 
(Tyre) have scarcely anything but their names to 
remind one of their former greatness. Acre, or Akka, 
the St. Jean d’Acre of the Crusades, has also lost 
most of its title to celebrity, but is still a strong fortress, 
and may again be the goal of some naval attack. 

Basra or Bassorah (latitude 30 0 30', longitude 
7° 34 >) was one °f the earliest monuments of the 
Arabian conquests of the seventh century, having been 
founded in A. D. 636. It soon became a great commer¬ 
cial center, and has so remained ever since. The popu¬ 
lation is about sixty thousand; one-half being Arabs, 
one-fourth Persians, and the other quarter Turks, Kurds, 
Jews and Christians. Vessels of four hundred tons can 
reach the city. 


Bagdad (latitude 33 0 20', longitude 44° 22'), the 
famous capital of the early caliphs, founded in 736, is 
built mainly on the eastern or left bank of the Tigris. Its 
political influence has been much diminished since the 
days when the renowned Haroun-al-Raschid, the hero 
of the “Arabian Nights,” invited thither the poets, 
scholars and statesmen of his wide-spread dominions. It 
is, however, still flourishing commercially; and, besides 
being a great center of overland trade, it has several 
manufactories of silk, cotton and leather goods. The 
population is perhaps seventy-five thousand. About 
twenty .miles lower down, on opposite sides of the river, 
are the ruins of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, the capitals re¬ 
spectively of the Graeco-Macedonian Seleucide and of 
the New-Persian Sassanide Dynasties. 

Hiilali, forty miles lower down on the sister river, 
the Euphrates, is situated amid the ruins of the ancient 
Babylon, the huge mounds of which are spread all 
around, with the Birs Nimrud, or Tower of Nimrod, 
only, on the western bank. 

Mosul holds a somewhat similar relation to Nine¬ 
veh as Hill ah to Babylon. It is, however, considerable 
of a city in its own right, with a population of perhaps 
forty thousand, while Hillah’s is only ten thousand. Be¬ 
sides, the ruins of Nineveh are mostly on the opposite 
side of the Tigris, and are spread along a distance of 
thirty miles. Its commerce has declined, and it is now 
but little more than a halting place on the thoroughfare 
between Bagdad and the West. It is, however, a center 
for the trade of Kurdistan, and also the seat of some man¬ 
ufactories of napkins, cotton goods and turbans; but it 
seems to have long since lost the prestige that originally 
gave to its manufacture of a superior cotton cloth the 
name of muslin. 

Diarbekir, on the site of the ancient Arnida, (latitude 
37° 55\ longitude 39 0 52') is enclosed by a wall of dark 
stone, and hence has been sometimes called Kara Amid, 
or Black Amida. It has a population of perhaps thirty 
thousand, and some cotton and silk manufactories as 
well as copper works, but its manufacturing enterprise 
has been for some years on the decline. 

Erzeroum, the capital of Turkish Armenia (latitude 
40 0 , longitude 41'), occupies the site of the ancient city 
of Arze. This word, with the suffix Roum, Turkish for 
Rome, is probably the root of the name, meaning 
Roman Arze. Some derive it from Ardz-Roum, or Land 
of Rome. Arze itself may have some relation to the Latin 
arx, a citadel or fortress, the place having been for ages, 
as it is still, the stronghold of Armenia. During the 
period of Greek, that is, East-Roman or Byzantine, su¬ 
premacy in Western Armenia, Arze was replaced in 
political importance by Theodosiopolis, built about A. D. 
415, thirty-five miles more to the east, by Theodosius 
II., Emperor of Constantinople. Under Turkish do 
minion the older site has again obtained the preference. 
The plain of Erzeroum is about six thousand feet above 
sea level, and the climate in winter is rather severe, 


THE CHIEF CITIES. 


*5 


while the heat of summer reaches the opposite extreme. 
It is of much strategic importance, being regarded as 
the key to Armenia and the Euphrates valley, and is sur¬ 
rounded by a strong wall, enclosing a citadel. It is also 
a center of civil administration for that section of the 
empire. Its commercial relation is that of a great empo¬ 
rium on the overland route between the east and Trebi- 
zond on the Black Sea, one hundred and twenty miles 
distant. Its population is about one hundred thousand. 

Bayazid, about the same distance to the southeast 
as Trebizond is to the northwest of Erzeroum, is also a 
stronghold of Turkish Armenia, being favorably situated 
for defense on a hill surmounted by a citadel. Its popu¬ 
lation is about ten thousand, mostly Kurds. 

Kars, about one hundred and ten miles to the north¬ 
east of Erzeroum, occupies an elevated and commanding 
position near the Russian frontier. Its heroic but fruit¬ 
less defense against the Russians in 1855 constitutes 
one of the most striking events in the military history 
of recent times ; and it is again an important point of 
attack and defense in the present struggle. Its popula¬ 
tion is estimated at twelve thousand. 

Batoum, the most distant of the Turkish ports on 
the Black Sea (about latitude 41 0 40', and longitude 
4i°40'), is favorably situated, having an excellent har¬ 
bor, capable of accommodating a large number of ships 
of the first class. The population is about twenty-five 
thousand. 

Brusa (Prusia ), latitude 40 0 10' north, longitude 
29 0 8' east, at the foot of Kashish Dagh, the Bithynian 
Olympus, is worthy of mention because of its historical 
interest as well as its present prosperity. According to 
an ancient tradition it was built by King Prusias I., of 
Bithynia, for a capital and stronghold, at the suggestion 
of his guest, the exiled Hannibal of Carthage, about 
B. C. 190. After many vicissitudes it fell under Roman 
dominion, B. C. 63, and so remained until the division, 
A. D. 395. It followed the fortunes of the East-Roman 
Empire until it fell to the Osmanlis, after a ten years’ 
siege, in 1326, from which time it remained their capital 
until they seized Adrianople, in 1361. 

Koixieh. ( Iconiutn ), celebrated for three centuries — 
eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth—as the capital of an 
important and independent branch of the Seljukide 
Turks, has long ceased to be of any political import¬ 
ance, and is commercially but a way station on a cara¬ 
van route to the sea coast. It has some manufactories 
of colored leather, and is a center of civil administra¬ 
tion for the vilayet of Karamania. It is situated in lat¬ 
itude 37 0 51', and longitude 32°4o', and has a popu¬ 
lation of about forty thousand. 

Kaisariyeh. (Ccesarea) in latitude 35°4o', and lon¬ 
gitude 35 0 20', famous of old time as the capital of 
Cappadocia, is still surrounded by a wall, which is, 
however, so much decayed as to be of no value for 
purposes of defense. The population is about forty 
thousand, and the city is somewhat remarkable for com¬ 


mercial enterprise. It is a great center of exchange of 
commodities between the East and the West. 

Aleppo (Chalybon, and afterward Bercea), in lati¬ 
tude 36° 10', and longitude 37 0 10', is a city of perhaps 
one hundred thousand inhabitants, and though of much 
diminished importance, politically and commercially, 
it still possesses considerable manufactories of silk and 
cotton goods, and of gold and silver thread, besides 
soap-works, dye-works and rope-walks. It is also a 
great center of inland and transcontinental trade, and 
has many celebrated mercantile houses. 

Iskanderoon (Alexandria), on a gulf of the same 
name, originally founded by Alexander the Great (Turk¬ 
ish, Iskander), whence its names, ancient and modern, 
is the port of Aleppo, and possesses a good harbor. 

Antakia (Antiochia), or Antioch, stands on the 
south bank of the Orontes, a little above its mouth, a 
mere shadow of its former greatness, with a population 
of ten thousand, instead of the four hundred thousand 
it contained in the days of its splendor, in the third cen¬ 
tury before our era. 

Damascus (latitude 33 0 27', longitude 36° 25') is 
the largest town in Syria, as it is one of the oldest in 
the world, our era of the birth of Christ being only 
about midway in its recorded history. Its population is 
still about one hundred and twenty thousand, and it 
rivaled that of Antioch in the classical period, while it 
was at least fifteen hundred years old when the history 
of Antioch began, in B. C. 300. It is the great em¬ 
porium of European overland trade with the Eastern 
portions of the Turkish dominions, as well as Persia and 
the more eastern countries. It lies at a distance of 
about sixty miles from its port, Beyrout,in a fertile plain, 
and commands “ one of the most beautiful prospects in 
the world.” The road from Damascus to Beyrout crosses 
the double range of the Lebanon. The city has several 
manufactories of silk, cotton and linen goods, and has 
given its name to the mixed goods known as damask. 

Jerusalem, always a point of interest on account 
of its religious associations, is situated in latitude 
31 0 47', and longitude 35 0 13'. It stands upon a rocky 
plateau about twenty-five hundred feet above the sea- 
level, and is surrounded on three sides by deep ravines. 
Its population has received considerable increase of late 
years, more especially in the Jewish element, and num¬ 
bers now perhaps not less than twenty-five thousand. 
The Turks and Jews, as well as the Armenian, Latin 
and Greek Christians, have each a separate quarter of 
the city, and the buildings of most interest are of a 
religious character. Jerusalem has some unimportant 
manufactories, its chief source of revenue being from 
the pilgrims of all faiths, who alike seek El-lvoods 
(“The Holy ”) to satisfy the demands of the human soul 
for a sacred place as well a% a sacred person, and buy its 
relics and memorials of wood, clay, stone or metal at a 
price that would be absurd, if not sanctioned by the 
religious enthusiasm of the purchasers. 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


16 

Medina. —Holy to all Mussulmans because the place 
of Mohammed’s refuge on his famous hedjrah (hegira) 
or flight from Mecca, July 16, A. D. 622, and the first 
scene of his acknowledged power as prophet, priest, and 
king of Islam, as well as for being the burial place of 
himself and his two immediate successors, or caliphs, 
Medina is second only to Mecca in sacredness, while 
Jerusalem holds the third place. Its ancient name was 
Yatreb, and is now properly and fully known as Me- 
dinat-un-Nabi, or City of the Prophet, which is usually 
shortened to Medina. It is well fortified by an encir¬ 
cling wall thirty-five feet high, and flanked by thirty 
towers, which makes it the stronghold of Turkish 
Arabia. Its population is about fifteen thousand, besides 
pilgrims. 

The Religious Capital. 

A review of the more important cities of Asiatic 
Turkey would be incomplete without reference to 
Mecca, the Om-ul-Kora, or Mother of Cities. Its im¬ 
portance is due to its being the chief sacred city of 
Islam, and in a religio-political government, like that of 
Turkey, such relation gives it a place which, taken all in 
all, is in influence second only to that of the capital. It 
is situated in latitude 21 0 30' north, longitude 40 0 8' 
east. Its seaport is Jiddah, on the Red Sea, sixty-five 
miles distant. The regular population is about fifty 
thousand; but owing to the yearly pilgrimage of Mo¬ 
hammedans from all parts of the world to the cradle of 
their faith, and the birth-place of its founder, the tran¬ 
sient population is often larger than the resident. 

Tlie Great Mosque.— This building, which is rather a 
series of buildings in the form of a hollow square, incloses the 
famous Kaaba, or Beit Ullah, that is, the House of God. The 
roof of the inclosing structure is supported by about five hun¬ 
dred and fifty-five pillars, which are only twenty feet high, and 
four or five feet in circumference. They are mostly of common 
sandstone, but there are a few of porphyry, marble and granite. 
At intervals small domes spring from a cluster of these pillars. 


and the whole structure is surmounted by seven minarets, and 
separated from the kaaba by seven encircling causeways. 

The Kaaba.— This name, allied to our word cube, denotes 
the general appearance of the sacred structure inclosed within 
the great mosque. It is really a small, oblong temple of about 
forty-five by thirty-five feet; but as the roof is flat, and about 
thirty-five feet from the ground, the structure, by the laws of 
perspective, actually presents the appearance of a perfect cube. 

According to the pious legend, the first kaaba was built by 
Adam — or rather, not knowing how to build, and being, of 
course, a nomad, or Bedouin Arab, Adam, on being ejected 
from Eden, erected here a tent for the worship of God. Test 
some unbeliever, mindful of Adam’s limited skill in the tailor¬ 
ing line, as evidenced by his first fig-leaf outfit, should throw 
doubt on this achievement, the legend-maker had the wit and 
piety to state that the tent had come down from heaven. Seth 
substituted a mud structure for the tent; and Enoch, or some 
other antediluvian worthy, built one of stone. At the Flood, 
this was swept away, and the Preishmaelite Arabs seem to 
have been without a kaaba for some time, until Abraham and 
his son Ishmael came along and rebuilt it. The hole in which 
they mixed the mortar is shown to this day! So, also, is the 
Zemzem, or well from which Hagar drank in the wilderness. 

The present kaaba was erected in 1627, and is of the dimen¬ 
sions already given. Its single door of entrance, covered all 
over with silver, is opened only three times a year, once for 
men, once for women, and once for cleaning. Inserted in the 
northeast corner of the wall is the sacred black stone, called 
the Right Hand of God on Earth, which the pious pilgrim de¬ 
voutly kisses on each of his seven circuits of the kaaba. 

Sacred Treasury of Islam. —This is one of the most im¬ 
portant institutions connected with the kaaba. Each pilgrim 
makes a cash offering for the defense of Islam, amounting in 
the aggregate to perhaps $3,000,000 annually. There are three 
treasure-chests, one of which was opened in the Russo- 
Turkish War of 1S2S, the second in the Crimean War, but the 
third is said not to have been opened for nearly five hun¬ 
dred years. The Sheik-ul-Islam, or supreme ecclesiastical 
chief of Mohammedanism, has lately commissioned a delega¬ 
tion of the ulema to visit Mecca for the purpose of ob¬ 
taining the contents of that third offertorv-chest. It is of 
course impossible to tell how much it contains; but if it really 
has not been opened for so long a period as stated, it is not im¬ 
probable it may be found to contain $461,000,000, or $1,000,000 a 
year since 1415. One good result of the present war would be 
the liberation of so much capital. 


V. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 


The Turks differ widely in manners and customs 
from what they call the Franks, or inhabitants of West¬ 
ern Europe. There are physical features which mark 
them as a modified type of the great Mongolian race, 
but far more characteristic and distinctive are their 
habits of everyday life. Most of what might be termed 
the accidental customs, or such as are not common to all 
races of men, are diametrically opposite to ours. Only 
a few of the more striking can here be noticed. 

FOOD AW’D DRINK. 

As a people, the Turks are very frugal and tem¬ 
perate. The dishes of the common people are mostly 


stews and hashes; the drink, water and coffee. Wine is 
forbidden to the faithful by the koran, but the less 
scrupulous evade the spirit of that prohibition by drink¬ 
ing stronger liquors, which, not being known to Moham¬ 
med, escaped his formal condemnation. Such dereliction 
is, however, confined mainly to the wealthier classes 
and government officials, the great masses being fairly 
entitled to be regarded as the most sober people in the 
world. The stew known as pilau , the chief ingredients 
of which are rice and mutton, is the national dish, which 
is usually supplemented with salads, olives and sweet¬ 
meats. Sherbet, or lemonade, is a favorite drink in hot 
weather; but water is the great beverage of the Turks, 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 


T 7 


and the supply of fountains in the capital, and the con¬ 
stant use made of them, attests the settled preference 
for water. The Turks are temperate by a free choice 
founded on religious principles. 

CLOTHING. 

The national costume of the Turks is a long, loose 
robe resembling in general effect the gowns worn by the 
clergy in some of our churches, and by judges every¬ 
where outside of republican America. The Parisian 
styles are, however, gradually supplanting these old- 
fashioned robes, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish 
“Young Turkey” from “Young France” in the streets 
of Constantinople. 

The familiar European dress, to which we have been 
so long accustomed, is no doubt preferable for active 
pursuits and the busy life demanded by our western civ¬ 
ilization ; but still there is a grace, dignity and freedom 
about the flowing robe that must recommend it, where 
ease and self-indulgence can be consulted. Hence 
comes the traditional dressing-gown, a cherished sur¬ 
vival of the times when our ancestors could afford to 
loll around and go slow. And some learned ethnologist 
may yet prove, from this parallelism, the original unity 
of the Caucasian and the Turk. 

Turban. —This picturesque head-dress is the most 
characteristic feature of Eastern costume. It enfolds the 
head without galling the bumps; and its varied ornaments 
and bright colors afford the same opportunity for dis¬ 
play that ladies’ hats do in other countries, and serve to 
indicate the social rank of the wearers. The Turks 
shave their heads, but not their beards. 

INDOOR CUSTOMS. 

On entering a house the Turks take off their shoes, as 
we do our hats; and when not occupied with some pur¬ 
suit, requiring the upright attitude, they like to squat on 
cushions, or recline on couches. They seldom sit down, 
as we do, and make no use of chairs. 

This peculiarity of reclining creates the impression on 
the minds of foreigners that the Turks are specially indo¬ 
lent, but there seems to be no solid reason for so charac¬ 
terizing them. By long usage it has become as natural to 
them to squat or recline as it is to us to take a chair, 
and they are not necessarily any more indolent on that 
account. Indeed, their usage is much the oldest, for 
primitive man must have loved to recline, on the bosom 
of mother earth if on no softer couch, long before he 
took the pains to construct a chair. But in all these 
matters the influence of Western ideas and habits is 
fast revolutionizing the customs of the country, and the 
time is probably not far distant when the domestic, 
personal and social habits of the Turks will differ but 
slightly from our own. 

Divan. —The couch, or divan, is a national institu¬ 
tion, and consists of a raised platform supplied with 
cushions. It serves the purpose of bed, sofa and chair. 


The average Turk habitually uses the same couch to 
recline on through the day and to sleep on through the 
night, and generally the same clothing. 

MORAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

It has been customary to describe the Turks as the 
embodiment of contradictory qualities, as in the fol¬ 
lowing extract from a work by Thomas Thornton, a 
British resident of Constantinople for fifteen years, about 
the beginning of the present century. In his “ Present 
[1810] State of Turkey,” which the “Edinburgh Re¬ 
view” (X., 250) characterized as “the best general ac¬ 
count of the Turkish Empire hitherto published,” 
Thornton wrote: 

“They are brave and pusillanimous; good and ferocious; 
firm and weak; active and indolent; passing from austere 
devotion to disgusting obscenity; from moral severity to gross 
sensuality; fastidiously delicate and coarsely voluptuous; seated 
on a celestial bed and preying on garbage. The great are 
alternately haughty and humble, arrogant and cringing, liberal 
and sordid. Though the Turk be naturally sedate and placid, 
his rage, when once roused, is furious and ungovernable, like 
that of a brute.” 

Such characterization saves the trouble of close 
observation and exact analysis. It seems to be a labored 
balancing of striking antitheses, and to belong to the 
day and generation that regarded everything outside the 
pale of Christendom as abominable and incapable of 
being misrepresented. It is at least very different from 
the apparently impartial evidence of some living writers. 
Witness the following from Bosworth Smith: 

“The genuine Othmanli has many noble social and national 
characteristics; he is, or was till the example or the precept of 
the Western money-lenders influenced him, eminently a man of 
his word ; his word was his bond, and a bond which was of 
first-rate security. He is still sober, temperate, dignified and 
courageous. Terribly cruel as he is when his passions are 
aroused, he is at other times gentle, hospitable and humane. 
Nowhere in Christendom, with the one exception, perhaps, of 
Norway, are beasts of burden and domestic animals treated 
with such unvarying kindness and consideration as they are in 
Turkey, and nowhere, probably, in spite of all the depressing 
influences of polygamy, and the degradation of women gen¬ 
erally, does the mother retain more hold on her children, or do 
children regard their mother with such constant and indissolu¬ 
ble veneration. 

“ It was not a Mussulman, but a Christian missionary, who, 
in rebuking some younger missionaries at Stamboul, who were 
speaking contemptuously of the Turks, remarked, ‘ You will 
see practiced here the virtues we talk of in Christendom.' An 
overstatement, no doubt, but still with some truth in it, and 
truth which we should do well to bear in mind, as a make¬ 
weight against the official corruption and the inisgovernment 
and the vices with which the Turks may be justly charged, and 
which those who most admire what is fine in their national 
character have the best right to deplore.” 

What seems, after impartial investigation, to be true, 
is that, aside from the exaltation of religious fanaticism, 
the Turk is of a humane, courteous, kindly nature. He 
is, at the same time, sincerely religious, and, like other 
men not a thousand miles away, he “loses his head” 


i8 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


when his religion is attacked. There is nothing to 
awaken the slumbering brute in the human being, be he 
Turk or Russian, Christian or Mohammedan, like at¬ 
tacking his religion. And, as some elements of a 
religious war have never been wanting in all conflicts 
with the Turks since they first set foot in Europe, some 
five hundred years ago, of course their enemies have 
suffered from the aroused fanaticism of a soldiery to 
whom heaven is guaranteed if they die fighting for 
Islam. In private life, or away from the excitements of 
the battle-field, it is asserted by eye-witnesses that they 
are the best behaved and most orderly soldiers in the 
world. Of course, if they looked on their religion as 
we regard it, or even as many of us look at our own, 
with a patronizing respect rather than a self-sacrificing 
devotion, they would not be so cruel in vindicating its 
claims, nor think of purchasing heaven by cutting the 
throats of the giaours or rayahs (infidels and dogs) who 
oppose its progress. 

Honesty. —By nearly all writers who have been able 
to rise above national and religious prejudices, the 
Turks have been credited with a marked degree of 
honesty in their social and commercial relations. From 
their first appearance in European history, within our 
era, they seem to have been fully conscious of, and to 
have properly appreciated, this national trait. When 
Tiberius II., Emperor of Constantinople, sent an em¬ 
bassy to the Kahn of the Turks to solicit his cooperation 
against Persia, about the year A. D. 580, that “ heir of 
the whole earth, the master of the seven races, and the 
lord of the seven climates of the world,” haughtily up¬ 
braided the Romans for their untruthfulness. The 
speech, though perhaps more fanciful than real, is 
worthy of being here inserted: 

“You see my ten fingers. You Romans speak with as 
many tongues ; but they are tongues of deceit and perjury. To 
me you hold one language; to my subjects another; and the 
nations are successively deluded by your perfidious eloquence. 
You precipitate your allies into war and danger; you enjoy 
their labors, and you neglect your benefactors. Hasten your 
return; inform your master that a Turk is incapable of uttering 
or forgiving a falsehood, and that he shall speedily meet the 
punishment which he deserves. While he solicits my friend¬ 
ship with flattering and hollow words, he is sunk to a con¬ 
federate of my fugitive Varchonites. If I condescend to march 
againt those contemptible slaves, they will tremble at the sound 
of our whips; they will be trampled like a nest of ants under 
the feet of my innumerable cavalry. I am not ignorant of the 
road which they have followed to invade your empire, nor can 
I be deceived by the vain pretense that Mount Caucasus is the 
impregnable barrier of the Romans. I know the course of the 
Niester, the Danube and the Hebrus; the most warlike nations 
have yielded to the arms of the Turks; and from the rising to 
the setting sun the earth is my inheritance.” 

Truthfulness. —The native honesty of the Turkish 
character naturally gives rise to a deep love of truth. It 
does not seem to occur to them' that any desirable end 
can be attained by lying or misrepresentation. A 
manly independence of character, worthy of a conquer¬ 
ing people, raises them above having recourse to the 


characteristic vice of a subject people. Subterfuges, 
lies and evasions evince a consciousness of inferiority; 
and it is a mark of true nobility when an individual 
or a nation scorns to use them. In trade, their fidelity 
to every verbal agreement is as remarkable as it is cred¬ 
itable. If a Turk promises to deliver a commodity on 
a certain day, in a given place, at a stated price, the 
goods will be on hand, entirely irrespective of the profit 
or loss that may accrue from the transaction. Neither 
note or bond will enhance his punctuality or precision. 

Hospitality. —The Turks are much given to hospi¬ 
tality and almsgiving. Indeed, the latter is one of the 
cardinal virtues inculcated in the koran, and the wealthy 
Mohammedans usually give at least a fortieth of their 
income in alms, which are believed to be highly instru¬ 
mental in obtaining answers to prayer. Hospitality, 
which has been characterized as a remnant of barbar¬ 
ism, is. everywhere the “ virtue ” of privileged classes. It 
is but the lax they pay to the community at large 
for the favors they enjoy. Fostering laws enable them 
to absorb the wealth of the nation, and they must 
necessarily assume the burden of feeding the indigent 
and improvident among their dependent serfs. Still, 
the Turks are naturally humane, and it would be unjust 
to ascribe their hospitality to the mere necessities of a 
feudal condition of society. 

Loyalty. —The Turks and Mohammedans gener¬ 
ally regard loyalty to the sultan as a religious duty. As 
defender of the faith he can demand the support of 
every faithful Mussulman, with the full assurance of an 
unhesitating compliance. Since the conquest of Egypt 
in 1857, the Turkish sultan has been regarded by the 
whole body of orthodox Mussulmans everywhere as the 
true Caliph, or successor of Mohammed. While intensely 
and even superstitiously loyal to his divinely appointed 
sovereign, he will rebel if the voice of religion is invoked 
against the reigning prince, so that his piety is above 
his loyalty; and he would rather serve his church than 
his king. 

Dignity. —The Turk has a proud bearing toward 
his inferiors and dependents. The favored of Allah, 
he sets his heel firmly on the necks of the conquered 
races; but he also possesses many of the best traits of 
men accustomed to command. All well born Turks 
seem to feel and to cherish a sense of personal dignity 
that will not allow them to stoop to unworthy actions. 

Courtesy. —The Turk is courteous and polite almost 
to excess; and is even able to veil his resentment under 
a calm, impassive air of elaborate courtesy. 

Superstition. —Among other superstitions the be¬ 
lief in the influence of the stars and of the evil eye are 
perhaps the most conspicuous. The evil eye is much 
dreaded in Turkey, which, however, only implies*that 
they are about one hundred years behind ourselves in 
that regard. 

Astrology, though long exploded everywhere else 
in Europe, is still regarded with favor at Constantinople. 


MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 


l 9 


No important undertaking is begun until the chief of 
the astrologers has marked the auspicious day; and one 
or more of these mountebanks is always in the employ 
of the government. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

The theater and the ball-room are foreign to the cus¬ 
toms of the Turks, who regard them as opposed to the 
principles of their religion. Their amusements are 
mostly within the household, being apparently of the 
opinion that whatever it is befitting them to enjoy 
may be shared with their wives and children. One can 
scarcely forbear the reflection that many homes in Chris¬ 
tian lands would be the brighter and happier for a little 
of the same spirit. Mankind will not cast the last shred 
of barbarism until the male portion of the race recog¬ 
nize that they should have no pleasures, rights or 
privileges that may not be shared by their wives and 
sisters. 

The amusements of the Turks are, however, not 
worthy of being borrowed, consisting chiefly of the 
fantastic capers of professional dancers, and the scarcely 
more elevating tales of professional story-tellers. The 
poorer classes frequent the coffee houses, where the like 
performances are the chief attractions. 

PECULIAR INSTITUTIONS. 


The Harem. 

By this name are designated the apartments occupied 
by the the wives and concubines of a single individual; 
and also the aggregate of such persons. The institution 
is common to the Turks with some other eastern nations, 
and though sanctioned by the koran, is much older than 
that production. 

Polygamy.— The oldest book in our own Bible in¬ 
dicates the existence of polygamy before the flood, 
where it says, “ Lamech took unto him two wives ” (Gene¬ 
sis iv., 19). By Mohammedan law a man may have 
four wives and an indefinite number of concubines, but 
large numbers of believers find the expense too great, 
and are content with one wife. 

Women of Islam.— The condition of the female 
sex, and the lack of appreciation by the males, are the 
most conspicuous departures from our ideas of what is 
due to the mothers of the race. Woman, in Turkey, is vir¬ 
tually a chattel, transferable at will, like other personal 
property, as a gift, or for a price. Her lord and master, 
whether owner or husband, never dreams of consulting 
her feelings or wishes as a matter of right, though of 
necessity a favorite wife or servant will command more 
or less influence. As soon as married, the Turkish wife 
is confined in the harem, and excluded from all inter¬ 
course with the outside world. The following prescrip¬ 
tion of the koran defines to whom she may unveil her¬ 
self: 


“ Speak unto the believing women, that they restrain their 
eyes, and preserve their modesty, and discover not their orna¬ 
ments, except what necessarily appeareth thereof; and let them 
throw their veils over their bosoms, and not show their orna¬ 
ments, unless to their husbands, or their fathers, or their 
husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband’s sons, or 
their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or 
their women, or unto such men as attend them and have no 
need of women, or unto children,” 

Motherhood. — A manner of life so circumscribed, 
as well as a fractional interest in a husband, and this only 
by a leasehold based mainly on physical organization, 
would seem intolerable; but, in reality, the unconscious¬ 
ness of degradation robs their condition of a great part 
of its unhappiness. The relation of motherhood re¬ 
mains to the woman intact, and the instincts of her being 
develop much comfort from this source. The maternal 
relation is deeply venerated by the Turks, and in the 
revolutions and conspiracies that sometimes displace a 
sultan, vizier, or pacha, it is customary to respect his 
harem and its property. 

The Harem of the Sultan. 

This is regarded, in Turkey as a permanent state 
institution. It is not so much the family of the reigning 
sultan as of the imperial dynasty to which he belongs. 
The heir apparent is not the oldest son of the sovereign, 
but the oldest male scion of the imperial harem, which 
includes all the male descendants of Othman, and such 
female descendants as have not been given in marriage. 
All children born in the institution are legitimate, what¬ 
ever the condition of their mothers; and all males have 
a right to the throne in the order of their seniority. If 
they marry, they abdicate their right of guccession. The 
imperial princesses also lose that title by marriage, and 
their children have no claim whatever to the throne. 

The sultan does not marry, his place being judged 
too high and sacred to permit the elevation of any 
ordinary mortal to so close an intimacy. He is, how¬ 
ever, allowed to select seven kadines, or elect-ladies, as 
first favorites, and an undefined number of odalisques , 
or chamber companions, as concubines and servants. 
The sacred number seven may not be exceeded, but one 
or more may at any time be relegated to the dignified 
retirement of the old harem, and a new favorite in¬ 
stalled. At the death of a sultan, the surviving kadines 
and concubines are removed to the same institution. 

Servants of the Harem. 

In the harems all male servants are eunuchs. 

Kapu-aglia, or chief of the white eunuchs, has 
charge of the outer doors and apartments, while the 
blacks fill the offices of closest proximity to the ladies. 

Khizlar-agha, or chief of the black eunuchs, is 
an important official in the court of Constantinople, and 
often a personage of great influence in the affairs of the 
empire, being almost equal in rank to the grand vizier. 

Sermoukahib is the official title of the chief of 
the pages, who is also a personage of importance. 



20 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


Haznadar Kacline, or lady of the palace, is the 
official designation of the superintendent of the harem. 
She is an elderly lady, often of great influence, being 
subject directly to the sultan. She obtains all her sup¬ 
plies through the khizlar-agha. 

The Seraglio. 

This Italian word, denoting an inclosure of palisades, 
has come to be adopted instead of the Persian word 
serai , a palace, to designate the chief residence of the 
sultan at Constantinople. The Serai Humayun, “ Sub¬ 
lime Palace,” or seraglio, stands in a triangular inclosure 
surrounded by a strong wall, on a point of land, with 
the Bosporus to the east, and the Golden Horn to the 
north. The wall is about three miles long, and the 
water frontage is two-thirds of the entire length, making 
the location one of the pleasantest imaginable. Within 
the inclosure are the harem, with a number of separate 
apartments and gardens for the principal female resi¬ 
dents; some private dwellings, baths and mosques, 
besides several public edifices, including the mint, 
arsenal, and treasury. 

Treasury.—One of the chief attractions of the seraglio is 
the treasury. Each successive sultan vies with his predeces¬ 
sors in adding to its contents, and the result is a dazzling array 
of jewels of untold value. The collection embraces pearls, 
many of them as large as sparrow eggs; a throne of gold, 
frosted with pearls; draperies for the horses ridden by the sul¬ 
tan, embroidered with pearls and rubies; a cradle coated with 
precious stones; inlaid armor, jeweled helmets, sword-hilts— 
one of these is decorated with fifteen diamonds, each one as large 
as the top of a man’s thumb; coffee-trays of ebony, with a 
double row of enormous diamonds, set close together; pipe- 
stems, nargilehs, sword-belts, caskets, and bushels of neck¬ 
laces of the most splendid description, heaped together in glass 
show-cases, and flashing like fire-flies in the dark. The most 
costly article in the treasury is a toilet table of lapis lazuli and 


other valuable material, richly inlaid with precious stones of 
every description. The pillars that support the mirror are set 
with diamonds; the stem and claws of the table are covered 
with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, carbuncles, etc.; along the 
edge of the table hangs a deep fringe of diamonds, with im¬ 
mense solitaire tassels. 

Serai Eski, or “ Old Seraglio,” erected by Moham 
med II., the Conqueror of Constantinople, is situated 
nearer the heart of the city. It is about one mile in cir¬ 
cumference, and incloses the offices of the ministers of 
war, the military academy, and some other public 
buildings. 

Sublime Porte. —The principal entrance to the 
seraglio is the Baba Humayun, the “ August Gate,” or 
“ Sublime Porte ” (French, from Latin porta, a gate), 
where justice was administered by the sultan or his 
vizier, whence it has come to be a synonym for the 
Ottoman power, or Court of Constantinople. Other 
derivations trace this title to the Latin words sub limine 
porta, “under the lintel of the gate.” 

Other Servants of the Palace. 

Beside the black and white eunuchs, already men¬ 
tioned as the immediate servants of the harem, there are 
several other classes of domestics employed in the 
seraglio, viz.: 

Kapidjis, or guards, whose duty it is to guard the 
outer gates of the palace. 

Itchoglans, or pages, who run errands and make 
themselves generally useful. 

Brisebans, or mutes, somewhat famous in Turkish 
history, execute the sultan’s secret orders. 

Bastandjis, or gardeners, whose labors are ex¬ 
plained by that designation. 

Baltadjis, or hewers of wood and drawers of water, 
discharge the functions implied by these terms. 


VI. RELIGION. 


The religion of the Turks proper, and of large por¬ 
tions of the subject nations, is the Mohammedan or 
Islam. It is the state religion, and has a majority in 
the whole empire of several millions out of the forty- 
four millions of population. In European Turkey the 
Mohammedans are, however, in the minority. Through 
the efforts of Christian nations, as is generally believed, 
though not without the influence of wise counsels and 
clear political foresight on the part of some of the 
earlier sultans, a remarkable system of toleration of 
adverse religions prevails in Turkey. The best Turkish 
statesmen could not fail to perceive the necessity of 
tolerating the religions of such large masses of the popu¬ 
lation as were Christians, if the empire were to have any 
rest from the bitterness of religious strife. The founder, 
Othman, is credited with having inculcated this principle 
on his son and successor, Orchan: 


“ My son,” said he, “ I am dying;; and I die without regret, 
because I leave such a successor as thou art. Be just, love 
goodness, and show mercy. Give special protection to all thy 
subjects, and extend the law of the Prophet. Such are the 
duties of princes upon earth, and it is thus that they bring on 
them the blessings of Heaven.” 

The government remains, however, essentially Mo¬ 
hammedan, and theocratic. Though tolerant of other 
religions, the dominant race believes Islam to be the 
only faith worthy of acceptance or encouragement. 

ISLAM OR MOHAMMEDANISM. 

Islam, an Arabic word signifying “submission to 
God,” is the more correct name of the religion commonly 
called Mohammedanism, from its founder, Mohammed 
or Mahomet. Mohammed was born A. D. 570, and 
commenced propagating his religion about 610. Twelve 



RELIGION. 


2 I 


years later, he was expelled from Mecca, and took refuge 
in Medina. This hegira (“flight”), marking the era of 
Mohammed, is dated by chronologists April 16, A. D. 
622. 

Islam, it is held, was once the religion of all men; 
but whether wickedness and idolatry came into the 
world after the murder of Abel, or at the time of Noah, 
or only after Amru Ibn Lohai, one of the first and great¬ 
est idolaters of Arabia, are moot-points among Moslem 
(a word derived from Islam) theologians. Every child, 
it is believed, is born in Islam, or the true faith, and 
would continue in it till the end were it not for the wicked¬ 
ness of its parents, “ who misguide it early, and lead it 
astray to Magism, Judaism, or Christianity.” 

Dogmas. —Islam, like other religions, has its dog¬ 
mas and its rules of practice. The fundamental dogma 
is, “There is but one God, and Mohammed is His 
prophet.” “There is no other God but God, and Him 
only must we adore. ” And of God it is said, “ He neither 
begetteth nor is He begotten.” Other noteworthy 
points of belief are: the existence of angels; the sacred¬ 
ness of the koran or Mohammedan bible; obedience to 
God’s prophets — the chief of whom are Adam, Noah, 
Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and Mohammed; the 
resurrection and final judgment of mankind, and of 
angels, genii, and even animals; and the absolute sover¬ 
eignty of God’s decrees, which has been transformed by 
the enemies of Islam into fatalism. 

Practical Duties. —The four duties of Moslems are, 
prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and the pilgrimage to Mecca. 
Prayer is the “ pillar of religion, and the key of para¬ 
dise.” It is enjoined five times a day, preceeded by 
washing; and “ cleanliness is the one-half of faith and 
the key of prayer.” The giving of alms is instrumental 
in obtaining answers to prayers; and the wealthy are ex¬ 
pected to give one-fortieth of their income to the poor. 
Fasting is enjoined the whole month of Ramadan, dur¬ 
ing which the koran was dictated; and at various times 
throughout the year. “The odor of the mouth of him 
that fasteth,” it is declared, “is more grateful to God 
than that of musk!” Finally, “ the man who dies with¬ 
out making his pilgrimage to Mecca, might just as well 
have died a Jew or a Christian!” 

Ordinances. —The ordinances are: circumcision, 
which is said to be of divine appointment; abstinence 
from wine, from swine’s flesh, and from blood, as well 
as from gambling and usury. 

Sects. —The two grand divisions of Islam are, the 
orthodox Sunnites, who receive the Sunna or traditions 
^comprising the acts and sayings of the prophet not found 
in the koran; and the Shiites (“ sectaries ”), who accept 
only the koran. These call themselves Al-Adeliat or 
“the just ones.” The two are further distinguished by 
the former recognizing the three immediate successors of 
the prophet as legitimate caliphs, while the latter deem 
them usurpers. 

Sub-sects. —Sunnites are divided into four branches 


called after their respective founders. They are the 
Hanifites, Malekites, Shafeites, and Hanabalites. The 
Shiites have five sects: Montazalites, Hashbemians, No- 
hamians, Jabedhians and Haidarites. There are about 
as many subdivisions of these various sects as there are 
Christian denominations; but the subject, it is thought, 
need not be pursued further. 

Fasts and Feasts of Islam. 

Ramadan, the ninth month in the Mohammedan year. In 
it Mohammed received his first revelation, and every believer 
is therefore enjoined to keep a strict fast throughout its entire 
course, from the dawn — when a white thread can be distin¬ 
guished from a black thread — to sunset. Eating, drinking, 
smoking, bathing, smelling perfumes, and other bodily enjoy¬ 
ments, even swallowing one’s spittle, are strictly prohibited 
during that period. Even when obliged to take medicine, the 
Moslem must make some kind of amends for it, such as spend¬ 
ing a certain sum of money upon the poor. During the night, 
however, the most necessary wants may be satisfied — a per¬ 
mission which, practically, is interpreted by a profuse indul¬ 
gence in all sorts of enjoyments. The fast of Ramadan, now 
much less observed than in former times, is sometimes a very 
severe affliction upon the orthodox, particularly when the 
month — the year being lunar — happens to fall in the long and 
hot days of midsummer. The sick, travelers and soldiers in 
time of war, are temporarily released from this duty; but they 
have to fast an equal number of days at a subsequent period, 
when this impediment is removed. Nurses, pregnant women 
and those to whom it might prove really injurious, are expressly 
exempt from fasting. We may add, that according to some tra¬ 
ditions, not only Mohammed, but also Abraham, Moses and 
Jesus received their respective revelations during this month. 

Haj .—The pilgrimage to Mecca is known by this name. 
Every Mohammedan, male or female, whose means and health 
permit, is bound to perform the Haj once, at least, in a life¬ 
time, otherwise “he or she might as well die a Jew or a Chris¬ 
tian.” Mohammed, after many fruitless attempts to abolish 
altogether the old custom of pilgrimage — prevalent among 
most peoples in ancient, and some even in modern, times, and 
perhaps arising from an innate, instinctive traveling propensity, 
but is not unfrequently fraught with mischievous consequences 
—was compelled finally to confirm it, only taking care to annul 
its idolatrous rites, and to destroy the great number of ancient 
idols around Mecca. The twelfth month of the Mohammedan 
year, the Djul-Hajja, is the time fixed for the celebration of 
the solemnities, and the pilgrims have to set out for their jour¬ 
ney one or two months before (in Shawal or Dhulkada), accord¬ 
ing to the respective distances they have to traverse. 

They first assemble at certain appointed places near Mecca, 
in the beginning of the holy month, and the commencement of 
the rites is made by the male pilgrims here first putting on the 
ihrain , or sacred habit, which consists of two woolen wrappers 
—one around their middle, the other around their shoulders; 
their head remains bare, and their slippers must neither cover 
the heel nor the instep. It is enjoined that the pilgrims, while 
they wear this dress, should be particularly careful to bring 
their words and thoughts into harmony with the sanctity of the 
territory they now tread, a territory in which even the life of 
animals is to be held sacred from any attack. 

Arrived at Mecca, the pilgrims proceed to the temple, and be¬ 
gin the holy rites by walking at first quickly, then slowly, seven 
times round the kaaba, starting from the corner where the black 
stone is fixed. This ceremony is followed Ay the Sai, or run¬ 
ning, likewise performed first slowly, then quickly, between the 
two mounts Safa and Mcrwa, where, before Mohammed’s time, 
the two idols, Asaf and Nayelah, had been worshiped. The 
next rite takes place on the ninth of the Djul-Hajja, and con- 


o 2 


HISTORY OF TURRET. 


sists in the Wultuf, or standing in prayer on the mountain of 
Arafat, near Mecca, till sunset. The whole of the succeeding 
night is spent in holy devotions at Mogdalifa, between Arafat 
and Mina. The next morning, by day-break, the pilgrims visit 
the Afasker-ul-Harem, the sacred monument (a place where the 
prophet stood so long in prayer that his face began to shine), 
and then proceed to the valley of Mirra, where they throw 
seven stones at three pillars, for the purpose of putting the devil 
to flight. The pilgrimage is completed with the slaughtering 
of the sacrifices on the same day and in the same place. The 
sacrifice over, they shave their heads and cut their nails, bury¬ 
ing the latter in the same spot. They then take leave of the 
kaaba, and, taking with them some sacred souvenirs, such as 
dust from the prophet’s tomb, water from the well zemzem, etc., 
they proceed to their homes. The return of the holy caravan is 
watched everywhere with the most intense anxiety, and is cele¬ 
brated with great pomp and rejoicings. Henceforth the pilgrim 
never omits to prefix the proud title of Hajji to his name. 
It is permitted that those who, through bodily infirmity, are in¬ 
capacitated from performing the holy journey themselves, may 
send a substitute, who acts as their representative in almost 
every respect, but this substitute has no share whatever in the 
merits and rewards belonging to the Haj. 

The Hegira, or flight of Mohammed from Mecca, being 
the beginning of the Mohammedan era, is celebrated by the 
followers of the prophet as their new year’s day; but as the 
year itself is lunar, the festival is necessarily movable in rela¬ 
tion to our calendar. The event occurred on the night before 
the 16th of July, A. D. 622. 

The Kurban Beyram, or feast of sacrifices, is one of 
the greatest solemnities of the Mohammedan religion. On this 
day every family of true believers offers a sheep to God, and 
the streets of their cities are filled with men carrying sheep to 
the sacrifice. The day is passed in prayer at the mosques. 

The Weekly Sabbath. — Friday is the day set apart for 
this purpose, not, as commonly believed, because the Christians 
observed Sunday, and the Jews Saturday, but because Friday 
has been from time immemorial the day appropriated to public 
assemblages, civil as well as religious, among the Arabs. 

Other Festivals. —The remaining chief feast-days of the 
Mohammedan calendar are, Motid-an-Nebi, “ the birthday of 
the prophet” (Mohammed); the birthday of Hussein and the 
birthday of Zeyneb, the grandson and granddaughter of the 
prophet; Leylet-al-Mearag, the ascension of the prophet; the 
Night of the middle of the month Shaaban, in which the des¬ 
tiny of everyone is settled for one year; and the Ramadan- 
Beyram , or the feast that follows the great fast of the month 
Ramadan. 


Church and State. 

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the implicit respect 
for religion which characterizes the population and the govern¬ 
ment, and the close relation between the church and state, and 
even the theoretic preference of the former that is implied 
in their theocratic form of government, the clergy are subordi¬ 
nate to the civil government. And this not by any spasmodic 
assumption of authority in the interests of public order, or as a 
temporary expedient, but habitually and legally as of a recognized 
right. Indeed, the civil authorities are apparently assumed to 
possess inherent, sacerdotal powers, as they may, and do, exercise 
priestly functions whenever they think proper. They control the 
ministering clergy, removing them for incompetency or mis¬ 
conduct, and superseding them when deemed neccessary or 
expedient. 

The Tolerated Religions. 

There are seven of these, all of which are regarded 
by the government as independent religious bodies, en¬ 
titled to use their own rules of internal administration : 

1. The Latin or Boman Catholic, using the liturgy 
of that church, acknowledging the jurisdiction of the Pope, 
and comprising Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians and Croats. 

2 . The Orthodox Greek Church, which recognizes 
the Patriarch of Constantinople as the highest ecclesiastical 
authority. 

3 . The Armenian Church, which has its own Patri¬ 
arch, styled Catholicos, and in dogmas and practices closely 
resembles the Greek Church. 

4. The Syrian and Chaldtean branch of Christianity, 
using the Syriac liturgy of St. James, and differing in some 
dogmatic points from the other Christian churches of the East. 

5 . The Maronites, of Mount Lebanon, a peculiar com¬ 
munity, and numbering perhaps 220,000 people, are essentially 
in dogmatic accord with Rome, but use the liturgy of St. 
Ephraem, a modification of the Syriac liturgy of St. James, and 
administer communion in both kinds. They are subject, 
ecclesiastically, to their own patriarch, who resides at the 
monastery of Kanobin, on Mount Lebanon. 

6. The Protestants, of various names and forms of 
church government, are freely tolerated, and in no way inter¬ 
fered with by the civil authorities, but are allowed to prosecute 
their labors as seemeth good to them. 

7. The Jews, under their Chacham Bashi, or head rabbi, 
are also recognized as entitled to the protection of the govern¬ 
ment, and the management of their own ecclesiastical affairs. 


VII. EDUCATION. 


For nearly four hundred years, or from the time of 
Mohammed II. (1451-81) until 1846, the Turkish system 
of education was that established by him. Its scope 
was not very comprehensive, being directed mainly to 
mastering the koran and interpreting its meaning with 
the help of the commentators. Among its highest 
flights was the investigation of such knotty points as 
whether a true believer should wash his feet in the morn¬ 
ing or merely rub them with his hands. Outside the in¬ 
doctrination in the teachings of the koran, so important 
in a religio-political or theocratic system of government 


like the Turkish, some attention was paid to mental attain¬ 
ments of a general character. As the new method has 
not yet entirely supplanted the old, it will perhaps be 
well to give both. 

SCHOOL SYSTEM OF MOHAMMED II. 

Mohammed II. remodeled the cruder methods of edu¬ 
cation that preceded his time into what has now be¬ 
come itself the old system, since the elaboration in 1846, 
of a more perfect system of graded schools. Ilis sys¬ 
tem comprised only two grades — mektebs and medresses. 



EDUCATION. 


2 3 


Mektebs. —These were the elementary schools, 
which were provided in every town and almost every 
village in the empire. The education embraced the ru¬ 
dimentary elements hereafter described as now taught 
in the salnamehs of the modern system. 

Medresses. — By this name were known the colleges 
or higher educational institutions. They were and are 
entirely under the charge of the ulema, or judicial and 
ecclesiastical hierarchy, and are attached to the great 
mosques. They are orthodox Islamite institutions and 
have their counterpart among ourselves in the various de¬ 
nominational colleges, with this difference, that, as in 
Turkey the church and state are not only united but a 
unit, they are also the state institutions for learning. 
No less than ten regular courses of study are pursued 
in these schools. These are grammar, syntax, rhetoric, 
the science of tropes, the science of style, philology, 
logic, metaphysics, geometry, and astronomy. The 
graduates receive the degree of danisckmend, that is, 
gifted with knowledge. 

Softas. —The graduates and pupils of these institu¬ 
tions, representing the educated orthodoxy of the em¬ 
pire, are known as softas. As for all political move¬ 
ments Constantinople is Turkey even more than Paris 
is France, the softas of the capital virtually represent 
the educated public opinion of the empire. They are the 
natural leaders of popular revolutions, and the political 
or religious discontent of the masses finds utterance 
through them. From the softas are selected the school 
teachers of the country, and they also furnish recruits 
for the ulema. 

THE MODERN SYSTEM. 

Within the last thirty years the whole educational 
system of Turkey has been remodeled, at least on paper; 
and now needs but time and opportunity to be thor¬ 
oughly introduced and embodied in the institutions of 
the country, to insure for Turkey, after a generation or 
two, as well educated a population as the average of the 
nations of Christendom. 

There are three grades of educational institutions 
provided for in the new system: primary, secondary 
and superior, each with two sections, as follows: 

Primary. 

Sibian comprises the salnameh, or elementary schools, and 
the rukdiyeh, or primary schools. In both the education is 
gratuitous, and, for the children of Mohammedans, compulsory 
in the elementary department, from six to ten years for girls, 
and six to eleven for boys. 

Salnameli. — One for each quarter in a city, and one 
for each village, is the legal requirement. In Constantinople 
there are four hundred and seventy of these schools, viz. : 
Mohammedan, 2S0; Greek, 77; Armenian, 48; Jewish, 47; Ro¬ 
man Catholic Armenian, S; Protestant, 5 ; Bulgarian, 4; Ser¬ 
vian, 1. If the schools had been multiplied through the in¬ 
terior in the same ratio as at the capital, there would be no 
less than 24,500 primary schools in the empire, but the latest 
returns, twelve years old, give only 15,000 for the whole empire. 


Rukdiyeli.—One for each five hundred houses is the legal 
provision, but they are only beginning to be established. In 
1S57 there were thirty-nine, while in 1874 the number had in¬ 
creased to three hundred and eighty-six, with an average at¬ 
tendance of fifty pupils each. The course covers four years, 
and comprises grammar, arithmetic, geometry, geography, 
drawing, history and literature, besides one or more languages. 
The girls are also taught needlework, elementary music, and 
domestic economy. 

Secondary. 

Idadiyeh and Sultaniyek are both comprehended in the sec¬ 
ond grade or department of public instruction. 

Idadiyeh. —The law provides that there shall be one for 
each group of one thousand houses throughout the empire; as yet, 
however, there are none. The course is to cover three years, 
and to be open only to those who have passed an examination 
in the rukdiyeh. Theoretically it comprises Turkish literature, 
rhetoric and composition, French, the elements of political 
economy, algebra, natural history and physics, besides a more 
thorough mastery of the branches begun in the rukdiyeh. 

Sultaniyeli, or lyceums, also remain to be developed. 
It is proposed that there shall be one for each vilayet at the local 
capital, a sort of provincial college, in which the course is to be 
three years, devoted to science and literature. 

Superior. 

Aliyeh, or schools of superior instruction, are the higher 
educational establishments of a specific character, such as the 
School of Administration, the Imperial Lyceum, the Robert 
College, and the University. 

School of Administration has a two years’ course for 
graduates of the rukdiyeh , who wish to qualify themselves for 
the position of governors, magistrates and officials of the minor 
districts, the higher positions being still reserved for members 
of the ulema. The studies are sacred and civil law, besides the 
higher branches already begun in the rukdiyeh. 

Imperial Lyceum is a French college in Constantinople, 
under the inspection of the government, and for the benefit of 
all classes, irrespective of creed or nationality. The course is 
eight years, three in the preparatory and five in the collegiate 
department. The number of pupils is about four hundred and 
fifty; the professors are French, and the French language is 
used in all the classes. 

Robert College is provided with an able corps of pro¬ 
fessors from our own country, supported by well qualified as¬ 
sistants, Turkish, Bulgarian, Armenian, Greek and French. 
The course is very comprehensive, including all the branches of 
a thorough English education, besides Greek, Latin, Turkish, 
Bulgarian, Armenian and French, and covers a period of four 
years in the collegiate, and as many in the preparatory depart¬ 
ment. Besides the branches enumerated, there are special 
classes for several others, and the student is allowed a large 
latitude in selecting such studies as he may prefer. 

Medieme, or Medical College, was founded fifty years 
ago, and has produced the most satisfactory results. It has a 
preparatory and collegiate department, and gives a fair medical 
education. There are usually about twelve hundred students in 
both departments, of whom about three hundred graduate 
yearly. 

Imperial University, not yet established, will comprise 
three schools: Literature, Political Economy, and Engineering. 

From what has been said, it is quite clear that there has 
been a new departure in Turkey. The old subordination of 
secular teaching to religious instruction is likely to pass away, 
but such revolutions are necessarily slow, and the average 
educated Turk is still rather a learned bigot than an independent 
scholar. 


2 4 


HISTORT OF TURRET. 


LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 

The Turkish is one of the Turanian idioms, and is chiefly 
divided into Eastern and Western Turkish. The former is 
mainly represented by the Uigur, an idiom but recently recog¬ 
nized not only to belong to the Turkic stock, but to be its most 
ancient representative. Its forms are fuller and more pure, 
albeit, to a certain extent, harder and rougher. Its alphabet is 
formed from the Zabian, out of which have sprung also the 
Mongol and Mantshu. Besides this, the Kiptchak, spoken in 
Kasan and Astrakhan, forms a principal branch of the Eastern 
Turkish, for which, however, but little has hitherto been done 
from a philological point of view. 

Of much higher importance is the Western Turkish, or 
language of the Osmanlis, which, through the conquests of 
that race, has spread far and wide over the whole of Western 
Asia and various parts of Europe. The Osman or Western 
Turkish (emphatically Turkish) is more melodious and soft than 
the former, and so much mixed with foreign elements, chiefly 
Arabic and Persian, that, were it not for its grammar, which is 
purely Turanian, it could hardly be called an original language, 
but rather a conglomeration of the three respective idioms. 
Besides, it has also received a large increase of words from 
other Asiatic and European languages, the Chinese, Greek, 
and Italian. 

Extent.— It is one of the most widely spoken idioms; 
Western Asia and the east of Europe use this tongue to a great 
extent for commercial and political transactions. The charac¬ 
ters in which it is now written are no longer the original Uigur 
letters, but the Arabic, the twenty-eight characters of which 
have been increased by the four additional Persian characters— 
produced by further diacritical points, and a new one of their 
own, amounting in all to thirty-three, which are written from 
right to left, as is the case in almost all Semitic languages. But 
this alphabet is not well suited to a language composed, like 
this, of elements belonging to the three great families of 
speech, viz.: Semitic, Indo-European, and Turanic. Neither 
the vowels nor the consonants are adequately represented in all 
cases. Occasionally, however, it is also written in Armenian 
characters, which render its sounds much more faithfully. 

Grammar. —There is no definite article or gender. The plu¬ 
ral is shown by a final lar or ler , and the cases are formed by add¬ 
ing ting, eh, i, den, and le for genitive, dative, accusative, ablative 
and instrumental respectively; which are, in plural, affixed to 
the ler or lar. The adjective has no flexion, but is placed un¬ 
changed after the noun. Diminutives are formed, somewhat 
like in Italian, by suffixes. The comparative and superlative 
are formed by circumlocution. The personal pronouns are 
without gender, and their declension is like that of the nouns. 
Possessive pronouns are made by suffixes. The Turkish verb 
is of a very complex nature. There are seven kinds (active, 
passive, negative, impossible, causal, reciprocal, reflexive), all 
of which are formed by certain monosyllables affixed or pre¬ 
fixed. The root of the verb is the second person singular im¬ 
perative, to which the infinitive affix mak or mek is joined. The 
moods and tenses are formed chiefly by the addition of the re¬ 


spective forms of the auxiliary verb oltnak, to be. Apart from 
this, there are special particles to express the optative, con¬ 
junctive, etc. Conjunctions are either formed by gerundives or 
possessive forms, or they are borrowed from the Persian and 
Arabic. Adverbs are formed by certain suffixes. 

Composition. — The manner of constructing Turkish 
sentences is most peculiar: the genitive always precedes the 
nominative, and the verb always stands at the end. All this 
gives the Turkish style a peculiarly artificial and inverted ap¬ 
pearance, and often a sentence cannot be in the least compre¬ 
hended until it is quite finished. Oriental flourishes, and 
allegorical figures of speech, with which Turkish is very 
lavish, do not tend to facilitate the study of the language. 

Original Literature. —This is to be found chiefly in the 
scanty remains of the Uigur period. That remote eastern 
branch of the Turkish family had, after (their emigration from 
their homes, south of the Lake Baikal, to the Tangnu Tagh, 
played a foremost part in the contests and migrations of Central 
Asia, until they disappeared in the Mongol Empire about 1200 
A. D. They were acquainted with Chinese literature, and had 
adopted the Buddhist doctrines to a certain extent, and their 
scanty literary relics bear traces of these influences. When, 
however, the Turks, in the eleventh century, began their con¬ 
quest of Mohammedan Asia, they learned to appreciate the 
literature of Persia, then beginning to grow up in its full glory; 
and ever since, Turkish literature and Turkish language have 
retained a strong Persian impression. 

Eastern Branch. —There are two literatures. The East¬ 
ern or Jagataian chiefly flourished between Timur’s and Baber’s 
time (1400-1530). Mir Ali Shir, the vizier of Sultan Hussein, is 
the most renowned poet of this period. He also collected the 
most ancient Jagatai poems. Sultan Baber, also belonging to 
this epoch, wrote memoirs of his life and time (translated into 
English), which are of considerable importance. 

Osmanli Branch. —This is exceedingly rich, but hardly 
deserving the name* of an original literature, it being, for 
the greatest part, a mere imitation of Persian and Arabic 
models. Of early writers, Sheikhi, a romantic poet and 
physician, and Soleyman Tchelebi, deserve special mention. 
In the sixteenth century, the most flourishing period of Turkey, 
we find Meshihi, the poet; Kernel Pasha Zedch, the historian 
and jurist. In history, we have, besides analists like Saad-ed- 
Din, historians like Mohammed Effendi. Of the same epoch is 
Lamii,who excelled in many branches of literature, besides being 
an accurate translator of Persian poets. Fasli (d. 1563) and 
Balki, the chief of Turkish poets (d. 1600), conclude this period, 
which is followed by another of great activity, but of inferior 
rank. It boasts of Nebi, the poet; Nefi, the satirist; but above 
all, Hadji Khalifah, the eminent historian, geographer and 
encyclopaedist. Raghib Pasha stands out in the eighteenth 
century, together with Said Rufet Effendi, and a number of 
smaller writers. Little is to be told of the present stage of 
Turkish literature; but there is a great activity now visible in 
the province of educational works, and the reproduction of 
ancient writings; a feature which augurs well for the future. 


Till. INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE. 


AGRICULTURE. 

Agriculture is first among national industries, and is 
the mainstay of national prosperity. In Turkey it is 
much depressed through taxation and the frequent wars 
that devastate the most fruitful regions. It also suffers 


from ignorance and a lack of enterprise on the part of 
the small proprietors and peasants. Notwithstanding 
these drawbacks, and the primitive methods still in 
vogue, the products of agriculture are very considerable, 
owing to the natural fertility of large stretches of terri- 



INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE. 


2 5 


tory in various sections of the empire. The grain raised 
in the valleys of the Danubian basin, and elsewhere both 
in Asiatic and European Turkey, is not surpassed by that 
of any other country; and the yield is very abundant. 
The butter is said to be excellent, and the cheese execra¬ 
ble, on the farms of Turkey. On the hillsides large 
flocks of sheep, and on the rougher mountain sides, 
numbers of goats, are bred, valuable for coarse wool and 
goat’s hair, as well as for the flesh and skins which they 
yield. The mutton is said to be peculiarly delicate and 
savory. Bee culture also prevails to a great extent, and 
large quantities of honey and wax are consumed at home 
or exported every year. The raising of horses and cat¬ 
tle is pursued to a considerable extent, especially in Asia 
Minor. Cotton is grown to advantage and of a good 
quality, and was largely exported to Great Britain dur¬ 
ing our War of the Rebellion, but has since sunk back 
nearly into its original condition of merely supplying the 
home market. 

Tenure of Land. 

Land is held under four different kinds of tenure, 
viz.: Miri, Vacouf, Malikaneh and Mulkh. 

Miri, or crown-lands, are held directly from the 
sultan, and on payment of certain fees may be cultivated 
by anyone, but without ceasing to belong to the crown. 

Vacouf, or religious foundations, may be Vacouf - 
Zarai — founded on an original grant by the crown, 
when the property is entailed on the eldest surviving 
member of the holder’s family; and Vacouf -el-Zaramain, 
or property bequeathed by private individuals. Turkey 
suffers through the unjust exemption from taxation of all 
property consecrated to pious uses. 

Malikaneh., crown-grants, granted for services in 
war, are hereditary and exempt from tithes. 

Mulkh, or freehold, may be purchased outright from 
the government, at a reasonable price; and is the most 
favorable form of tenure for the peasantry, but it does 
not exist to any large extent, owing to the poverty of 
the agricultural producers. 

Rayahs. 

These are the subject races, or infidels as distin¬ 
guished from the faithful Mohammedans or Mussulmans. 
They are all subject to the capitation tax for exemption 
from military duty. They are mainly Greeks, Slavs, 
Armenians and Jews. The Slavs are chiefly agricul¬ 
turists, the Greeks foreign merchants, and the Arme¬ 
nians inland traders, while the Jews to a large extent do 
the banking and note-shaving of the country. The 
term “ rayahs ” is, however, loosely applied to the agri¬ 
culturists of the country, who are more properly desig¬ 
nated as yeradjis or tenants, and chifjis or laborers. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Manufactures are still more backward than agricul¬ 
ture; but several of the simpler kinds, based on the 
natural products of the country, are well known and ex¬ 


tensively practiced for home consumption and the foreign 
market. The products are olive oil, dried figs, raisins, 
honey, wax, silks, red cloth, dressed skins, goat’s hair, 
wool, dye stuffs, carpets, embroidery, essential oils, attar 
of roses, saddlery, swords and shawls, besides the famous 
Turkey leather. The method of preparing this leather, 
more generally called Turkey Morocco in this country, 
has hitherto eluded the ingenuity of outsiders; and it is 
not determined whether its superiority consists in the 
texture of the skins or in the manner of dressing and 
dyeing. A good quality of cotton thread is manufac¬ 
tured at Adrianople and elsewhere, and the printed 
muslins of Constantinople possess no little merit; but in 
most if not all kinds of manufacture, the empire is far 
behind the nations of Western Europe, and is yearly de¬ 
teriorating. Mr. Farley, in his “ Modern Turkey,” says: 

“The manufactures in steel, for which Damascus was so fa¬ 
mous, no long-er exist; the muslin looms of Scutari and Tirnova, 
which in 1S12 numbered two thousand, are now reduced to less 
than two hundred; the silk looms of Salonica, numbering from 
twenty-five to twenty-eight in 1S74, have now fallen to eighteen. 
Bagdad was once the center of flourishing trades, especially of 
calico printing, tanning and preparing leather, pottery, jewelry, 
etc. Aleppo was still more famous for its manufactures of gold 
thread, of cotton tissue, cotton and silk, silk and gold, and pure 
cottons, giving occupation to more than forty thousand looms, 
of which at present there remain only about five thousand. 

“Now Sheffield steel supplies the place of that of Damascus ; 
cloths, and every variety of cottons, have supplanted silk; En¬ 
glish muslins are preferred even to those of India; and the 
shawls of Persia and Cashmere have given place to those of 
Glasgow and Manchester.” 

TRADE AND COMMERCE. 

It will be noticed that the maritime frontier of Tur¬ 
key is very extensive. It embraces long sweeps of coast 
along the Adriatic, the Ionian, the Archipelago, the 
Marmora and the Black Seas. No country is more fa¬ 
vorably situated for commerce than Turkey, and no city 
commands a better location than does its capital, Con¬ 
stantinople; but through the “proud indolence of the 
Turk,” or perhaps because of long ages spent in the more 
simple avocation of feeding flocks, the trade and com¬ 
merce of Stamboul and the rest of the empire are far be¬ 
hind what they would be in the hands of a more enter¬ 
prising people. 

There are no official returns of the inland trade or 
foreign commerce of the empire. Commercial inter¬ 
course is mainly with Austria, Greece, Italy, France, 
Great Britian and Russia in Europe, besides Persia and 
Egypt, in Asia and Africa, respectively. The great cen¬ 
ters of foreign commerce are Constantinople, Smyrna 
and Trebizond. Inland trade is much obstructed by the 
absence of good roads, though of late some efforts have 
been.made to improve the condition of the country in 
that respect. The ocean carrying trade is divided thus: 
22 per cent. British, 18 Italian, 17 Austrian, 16 French, 
13 Greek, and the remaining fourteen divided between 
Turkey herself, Russia, the United States and several 
less important countries. 


26 


HIS TORT OR TURKEY. 


The mercantile shipping of the empire, exclusive of 
the coasting trade, which counts about 150,000 tons, 
is only 40,000 tons, of which 4,000 is represented by 
steamers. 

Railways, Telegraphs and Postoffices. 

There are only 450 postoffices in this immense em¬ 
pire, while the United States, with but little more popu¬ 


lation, has 34,300. The length of its railways is 1,137 
miles, or but little more than one-sixtieth of the railroad 
mileage of the United States. It has 17,618 miles of 
telegraph lines and nearly twice as much of wires, but 
this has been largely due to international necessities, and 
one-ninth of all messages, in 1874, were international, 
being nearly 103,000 in number. There are at present 
400 telegraph offices in the empire. 


IX. FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 


Until 1876, the form of government prevailing in 
Turkey had but little in common with the usages of the 
more western countries, being purely oriental in type. 
Its cardinal principle has been the paternal, or the con¬ 
centration of the whole machinery of government, exe¬ 
cutive, judicial and legislative, in the sovereign. Civil, 
military and religious jurisdiction alike proceeded from 
that central fountain. The power of the empire, of 
every name and nature, was manipulated by him through 
his favorites; and he was also lord paramount of every 
inch of land within its borders. 

TITLES OF THE SOVEREIGN. 

The Turkish sovereign is known primarily by the 
usage of the West, as the Sultan, meaning strong, hard, 
or solid; and Grand Seignior (lord). He is also known, 
especially among his Mussulman subjects as Padishah , 
“father of kings” or “powerful king,” Caliph , “suc¬ 
cessor of the prophet,” Zilallah , “shadow of God,” 
Alempenah, “ refuge of the world,” and Imam-ttl-Mosle- 
min, “ pontiff of Mussulmans. ” 

That he is supposed to reign by divine right is stating 
the doctrine mildly. By all devout Mussulmans he is 
believed to be the divinely constituted head of true believ¬ 
ers everywhere. Many of the learned doctors of Islam 
have even taught that he could do no wrong. Still 
some sultans have been deposed and put to death under 
the leadership of orthodox revolutionists, which shows 
that in Turkey as elsewhere religion is stronger than the 
sentiment of loyalty. The Turkish government might 
be characterized as a despotism tempered by rebellions 
and assassinations, but that in such an epigrammatic de¬ 
scription the definition is more pointed than truthful. 
For even before the recent attempt at constitution-mak¬ 
ing, and indeed from the begining of their history as a 
nation, there have been several well-recognized restric¬ 
tions on the absolutism of the padishah. 

Decrees of the Sultan. 

Hatt-i-Humayun, or “sublime ordinance,” means 
a political manifesto oi» proclamation, a sovereign state- 
paper relating to important interests in the civil admin¬ 
istration. 


Hatt-i-Sheri, or “ venerable ordinance,” implies a 
sacred decree or one pertaining to religious affairs. 

Iradeh is a personal decree relating to matters 
within the prerogative of the sultan. 

Firman is a decree issued by the sultan with the 
sanction of the Court Council. It has at once the force 
of law, being found by the proper official to be in ac¬ 
cord with the koran before being passed. 

Checks on Despotism. 

1. The Koran, or Mohammedan bible, is the ac¬ 
cepted basis of all principles of government; and any 
wide departure from its teachings would involve the in¬ 
novating sultan in a very unequal contest against the re¬ 
ligious convictions of the whole race to which he belongs, 
and from whose support alone he derives all power or 
possibility of retaining his throne. 

2. Multeka, or collection of the traditional sayings 
and doings of Mohammed, constitutes a second expo¬ 
nent of the great principles of life and government, alike 
for the sultan and people in Turkey. 

3. Kanun-Nameh, or collection of sovereign de¬ 
crees, holds the highest place among purely human 
codes, the other two being regarded as of divine origin. 
The kanun-nameh was compiled and issued by Sultan 
Solyman the Magnificent in 1525. It embraced the 
Hatt-i-Sheris, or “ Sacred Decrees ” of his predecessors, 
and his own to the year of issue. 

4. Ulema. —This Arabic word means “ the learned,” 
and the institution represented is one of the most peculiar 
in the world. The body of men it includes may perhaps be 
best characterized as the religio-judicial hierarchy of the 
empire. The nearest analogy to it among the western 
nations would be found in the Papal government before 
Pope Pius lost his temporal power. Or if one were to 
imagine the Church of England and the whole judici¬ 
ary of that kingdom united in one body, with supreme 
judicial as well as ecclesiastical powers vested in the 
archbishop of Canterbury, it would represent some¬ 
thing like what the ule>na, with its head, is to Turkey. 
It would, however, be still necessary to remember that, 
in the theocratic system of the Turks, the interpre¬ 
tation of the laws, or the legal administration of the 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 


government, is as sacred as the sacerdotal functions of 
prayer or preaching, and even outranks them. Accord¬ 
ingly the ulema embraces both classes, and, itself re¬ 
cruited from the softas, but a long, specific course of 
theology or theological jurisprudence, and several exam¬ 
inations, are required before the graduate of the medres- 
seh can be admitted into the ulema. 

All members of the zilema are exempt from taxation, 
from capital punishment, and even from degrading pun¬ 
ishment of any kind. 

DIVISION OF GOVERNMENT. 

Subordinate to the sovereign, four classes of authori¬ 
ties, besides the army and navy, may be distinguished, 
viz: the judicial and ecclesiastical, which are united 
under one head, the sheik-ul-Islam, the ministerial, or 
“ dignities of the pen,” and administrative, or “ digni¬ 
ties of the sword.” 

RELIGIO-JUDICIAL HIERARCHY. 

. For greater precision the several grades of each class 
will be given separately: 

Sheik-ul-Islani. 

This dignitary, whose title denotes the chief of Islam 
(Mohammedanism), is the head of the ulenla or religio- 
judicial hierarchy of the empire. He is appointed by 
the sultan with the concurrence of the ulema , and may 
not be put to death by the reigning sultan, but is liable 
to deposition and banishment by him, and to execution 
by the succeeding sultan. 

He is also styled the grand mufti , which defines his 
supreme judicial position; but sheik-ul-Islam is the more 
comprehensive designation, as it conveys the idea of re¬ 
ligious as well as judicial supremacy; Islam is one sys¬ 
tem of law and religion. 

Petwa.—This is the name of the authoritative de¬ 
cision— unconditionally authoritative, and without ap¬ 
peal— of the sheik-ul-Islam as the supreme interpreter 
of the civil and ecclesiastical laws of the empire. The 
theory of his office is that he will decide according to 
the laws, with a view to maintain the faith in its original 
purity and integrity, irrespective of any and all influ¬ 
ences to the contrary. How far this is practicable it is 
left to the judgment of the reader to determine; but there 
is no reason to think that these sheiks have been more 
amenable to outside pressure than the chief-justices of 
other nations. 

The fetwas are generally antiprogressive, being based 
upon the assumed divine revelations of the koran. It is 
generally charged that the fetwas are often unprincipled 
decisions; that one, for instance, declared a treaty with 
unbelievers invalid if the faithful would be benefited by 
its infraction; and another, that a truce with heretics 
was binding only until the orthodox had recovered 
strength to renew the conflict. On the other hand, it 
is related to the credit of the institution that a sheik-ul- 


Islam being once asked, “If eleven Mussulmans, without 
just cause, kill an infidel (Christian) who is the subject 
of the padishah, and pays tribute, what is to be done?” 
is said to have replied, “ Though the Mussulmans should 
be a thousand and one, let them all die.” 

The sultan can neither declare war nor conclude 
peace without the fetwas of the sheik-ul-Islam. Nor, 
in the event of a successful revolution, can the change 
be deemed legal until sanctioned by a fetwa. 

Judges. 

Kadiasker. —There are two of these, called respect¬ 
ively of Anatolia and Roumelia, that is of Asiatic and 
European Turkey. 

Mufti.— This is the supreme judge of the vilayet 
or viceregal province, corresponding broadly to our su¬ 
preme judges of the several States. 

Mollah. —A judge of the superior court, having le¬ 
gal jurisdiction over a sandjak. There is, however, a 
higher class of mollahs not differing from the others in 
degree of jurisdiction, but only in the greater dignity of 
the cities where they have the honor to preside. 

Great Mollahs. —Of these there are nine, holding 
jurisdiction over the nine preeminent cities of the em¬ 
pire, which are as follows: 

Three religious capitals: Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem. 

The capitals of the three earlier caliphates: Damas¬ 
cus, of the Ommiade; Bagdad, of the Abbasside; Cairo, 
of the Fatimite. 

Three successive capitals of the Osmanli dynasty: 
Brusa, Adrianople, Constantinople. 

Uadi. —This is the local judge of a kaza or district 
or of a town. 

Mouktar, with the demogerontes (see p. 29) corre¬ 
sponds to our justices of the peace. 

Ecclesiastics. 

Sheik, or chief, is the head clergyman and preacher 
attached to the larger mosques. 

Khatib is the next in rank to a sheik in the ecclesi¬ 
astical hierarchy. 

Imam, next in rank to (he khatib , reads the public 
prayers. 

Muezzin, next to the Imam, calls to the namaz 
(prayers, five times a day), from the minarets. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The Ministry, or Cabinet, of the sultan, is divided 
into three classes, or groups, known as the “ Dignities 
of the Pen;” and the actual civil administration, coming 
in direct contact with his subjects, is similarly grouped 
into three “Dignities of the Sword.” 

Dignities of the Pen. 

1. Grand Vizier. —This functionary is at the head 
of the civil administration of the empire, and corre¬ 
sponds broadly to the British premier. His official 
headquarters are at the Sublime Porte; indeed, for all 


28 


HIS TORT OR TURRET. 


political purposes, it is supposed to be where he is, and 
his is the first of the dignities of the pen. The depart¬ 
ment comprises the ministry of executive acts (his own), 
ministery of the interior (his mustechar, or counselor’s), 
and that of the reis effendi , or of foreign affairs. 

The grand vizier, different from the sheik-ul-Islam, 
is liable to be put to death by the sultan, but more fre¬ 
quently is banished, and oftener still is simply deprived 
of office. In recent times especially, the average dura¬ 
tion of office has been very short, there having been no 
fewer than twelve changes in the last four years, 1873-7. 
Still, while in office, he is the actual executive head of 
the nation, discharging his functions, however, in the 
name of his master, the sultan. He presides over the 
privy council in the absence of the sultan. 

There are six under-secretaries in this first dignity 
of the pen, one of whom, at least, deserves mention: 

Kanundji, as the name implies, is the canon-man, 
or one well versed in the canon law of the empire. It 
is his duty to see that the decisions of the ministers are 
in conformity with the koran. He is also custodian of 
the original decisions and decrees. The nearest to a 
counterpart of the katiundji , in our system, is the attor- 
ney-general. 

Divan Humayun, or “ Illustrious Divan,” called 
also Medjliss-i-Khass, or Court Council, is equivalent to 
the British privy council, or our cabinet, and embraces 
the following twenty-two officials: Sardazan, or Grand 
Vizier; Sheik-ul-Islam, or Grand Mufti; Seraskier , or 
Minister of War; Capidan Pacha , or Minister of Ma¬ 
rine; Reis Effendi, or Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mus¬ 
techar (Counselor, that is, of the Grand Vizier), or 
Minister of the Interior; Defterdar, or Minister of 
Finance; Minister of Justice; Minister of Instruction; 
Minister of Commerce; Minister of Public*Works; Min¬ 
ister of Police; Minister of Vacoufs; President of Coun¬ 
cil of State; Vice-President of Council of State; one 
other member of Council of State; Director-General 
of Indirect Contributions; Director-General of Archives; 
Prefect of Constantinople; three members, representa¬ 
tives of certain other councils. 

2. Defterdar, or Minister of Finance, and his 
subordinates, constitute the second dignity of the pen. 
He has his “ porte,” or department, which, in the absence 
of any distinctive epithet, might not inaptly be styled 
the Inscrutable Porte, for the condition of the Turkish 
finances is “what no fellah can find out.” Among 
other officials of importance, this department embraces 
the Keeper of the Great Seal. 

3. Khizlar-aglia, or Chief of the Eunuchs, holds 
the third of the great dignities of the pen. His depart¬ 
ment includes the commandants of the pages and charn- 
lains, of the guards of the gardens, bearer of the prophet’s 
standard, prefect of the markets, treasurer of the palace, 
and grand master of the court. The khizlar-agha 
ranks as field-marshal, and is sometimes of equal in¬ 
fluence with the grand vizier, his free access to the 


powers behind the throne giving him special opportuni¬ 
ties. 

All these “ dignities of the pen,” instead of being 
formally arranged in three groups, are of late years 
getting to be regarded, like the ministries or depart¬ 
ments of. other countries, each by itself, as the depart¬ 
ment of finance, of foreign affairs, etc., of which there 
are about twelve in all. 

Valida Sultana is the title of the mother of the 
reigning sultan, a Turkish queen-dowager, whose hus¬ 
band may, or may not, have reigned, according to the 
Turkish law of succession. (See “ Harem of the Sultan,” 
p. 19.) She is generally a personage of great influence 
in the affairs of Turkey, after the accession of her son, 
irrespective of her previous relations to politics. The 
filial reverence for motherhood, strong everywhere, is 
especially so in Turkey, and the mother of each new 
sultan becomes at once the great domestic power behind 
the throne. 

Dignities of the Sword. 

These are the executive officers of the three differeht 
grades of territorial jurisdiction, subordinate to each 
other, as follows: 

Vali or viceroy, Mutessarif or governor, Kaimakam 
or sub-governor. 

Administrative Divisions. 

For convenience of administration the empire is di¬ 
vided into vilayets, sandjaks or livas, and kazas. 

Vilayet, or government of a vali, is the largest ad¬ 
ministrative division of the Turkish Empire. The vila¬ 
yets are of varying dimensions according to geograph¬ 
ical position, political importance, old associations 
or other cause. They are at present twenty-nine in 
number besides Constantinople, which with its suburbs 
in Europe and Asia constitutes a separate government 
under the prefect of the city. Of that number, ten be¬ 
long fo Europe, sixteen to Asia and three to Africa. 

Eyalet was the older name for the same division, but 
it has been displaced since 1864 by the word vilayet, 
which was then adopted. 

Sandjak, meaning literally a banner, denotes in 
this connection a province of the vilayet, whose mutes¬ 
sarif or governor, equivalent to the English banneret of 
feudal times, was entitled to a banner in battle. 

Diva is synonymous with sandjak, and is fast displac¬ 
ing it in use as the feudal aristocracy and feudal terms dis¬ 
appear from Turkey. The number of livas in 1864 was 
one hundred and twenty-three. 

Kaza is a district or subdivision of liva, and derives 
its name from kadi or kazi, a district judge, signifying 
broadly such territory as one judge could conveniently 
administer justice for. In a country of poor roads and 
no railroads, at the time when thus districted, the area 
could not be very extensive. It generally embraced 
more than one town, and several villages. The civil ad¬ 
ministrator or executive officer is a kaimakam. 


FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 


2 9 


Government of the Vali. 

As has been intimated, the vali is the chief executive officer, 
and represents his sovereign within his vilayet. He is in¬ 
trusted with the execution of the laws, the sentences of the 
courts, and the preservation of peace. He is appointed by the 
sultan. His superior assistants are under his control, but are 
themselves appointed from Constantinople, and are to that ex¬ 
tent independent of him, and a check on his abuse of power. 

Muavin is the name of the official who represents the vali 
in his absence — his substitute or, as we would say, the vice- 
vali. 

Defterdar, literally the bookkeeper, is the accountant-gen¬ 
eral of the vilayet , and is intrusted with all its financial affairs. 
He is subordinate to the vali , but responsible to the department 
of finance at the capital. 

Mektebji is the chief secretary of the vali and has charge 
of all official correspondence and documents. 

Reis JSffendi, local secretary of foreign affairs, has charge 
of the relations of foreigners and travelers with the local au¬ 
thorities. 

Besides, there is a host of other officials in charge of public 
instruction, roads, surveys, agriculture, trade, census records 
and the police, all subordinate to the vali. 

Medjliss-i-idareli. —The administrative council of the 
vali is known by this name. U comprises himself, the chief 
niollah or judge of his vilayet, the director of finance, the sec¬ 
retary and foreign secretary above mentioned, the ecclesiastical 
heads of the Mohammedan and non-Mohammedan communi¬ 
ties, and four members—two Christian and two Mohammedan 
— elected by the inhabitants. 

The liras and kazas have similar officials and councils to 
those of the vali 4 , they are, within their respective borders, but 
smaller copies of ^the vilayet. 

Communal Government. 

Nahieli is the name for the smallest territorial district 
known to the administrative divisions of Turkey. It corre¬ 
sponds to the French comfnune, and broadly to our township. It 
comprises two hundred houses in a village or on farms, or both 
combined. 

Mudir, or mayor, from which the name is derived, is the 
chief officer of the Nahieli, and is elected annually by the in¬ 
habitants of his commune, subject to the approval of the vali. 
He is subordinate to the kaimakam of the district. 

Muavin is the name of his alternate, or vice-mayor. 
Where the community is Christian, both are Christians; where 
mixed, the majority gets the Mudir and the minority the Muavin. 

Medjliss-Naliieli, or Communal Council, comprises not 
less than four nor more than eight tax-payers elected by the 
people. They must be thirty years of age, and subjects of the 
sultan, and tax-payers to the extent of four dollars (one hundred 
piasters) at least. They are taken equally from both religions 
where the community is mixed, and from the prevailing re¬ 
ligion where there is only one. 

Mouktar is also a kind of sub-mayor, or local mayor, of 
each community of about twenty houses. lie has a council 
known as demogerontes, or elders of the people, retained from 
ante-Turkish times, a survival of the old Greek, Byzantine, or 
East-Roman Empire. The Mohammedan imam, or Christian 
priest, according as the one or the other religion prevails in the 
village, is ex officio a member; and there are from three to 
twelve other members, elected annually by the inhabitants. The 
mouktar and his council assess the taxes, and are responsible 
for their collection. 

TITULAR DISTINCTIONS. 

Pacha or pachah, meaning literally “ foot of the 
shah ” or sovereign, as if to go for him where he cannot 


go in person, is the highest of the personal dignities 
known in Turkey. The title is neither hereditary nor 
attached to any particular class of officers, but nearly all 
the chief officials—civil, military, ministerial and diplo¬ 
matic—receive it as a mark of social distinction. It is 
also conferred at the discretion of the sultan on any of 
his subjects for distinguished attainments in literature or 
other pursuit. 

A military pacha is entitled to a banner ornamented 
with two horse-tails, and is thence known as a “pacha 
of two tails.” A pacha of more extensive jurisdiction, 
as the kadiasker of Europe or Asia, may flourish three 
horse-tails on his standard. 

Bey or beg seems to be analogous to lord, and de¬ 
noted especially in earlier times of Turkish dominion a 
chieftain entitled to a standard with one horse-tail. His 
bey-lik or territory was the fief for which he was re¬ 
quired to render military service, at the head of his men. 
In the civil administration as well as in the army and 
navy it is now often given to the subordinate officers, as 
to governors, colonels, naval captains. It is also some¬ 
times conferred on persons who have achieved some dis¬ 
tinction in private life. 

Beyler-Bey or bey of beys has been displaced by 
pacha of three tails. In feudal times it denoted one 
that had several beys under his command. The title 
still survives as one of the distinctions of the ruler of 
Tunis, though much better known in the abbreviated 
form of bey only. It also belongs to the two peculiar 
Turkish officials known as the kadiashers of Anatolia 
and Roumelia, a sort of supreme judicio-military com¬ 
manders of Asiatic and European Turkey. 

BfFendi, borrowed from modern Greek, means liter¬ 
ally an autocrat, commander or author, and is a title of 
respect corresponding to our master or sir, and more es¬ 
pecially applicable to gentlemen of learning. 

Agha, meaning apparently a chief or leader, is ap¬ 
plied to various officials, civil and military; and, not un¬ 
like our “colonel,” in colloquial courtesy is given to any 
individual of distinction whose appropriate title is un¬ 
known. 

Bash., meaning head, appears frequently in com¬ 
pound words as Chodja-Bashi or Hodya-Bashi, which 
literally means head instructor, and is used in the sense 
of representative man or trustee of the village or 
community; Chacham-Bashi, head-rabbi of the Jews, 
and the like. 

CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT. 

Toward the close of the Crimean War the influence 
of the western allies of the Porte gave rise to an attempt 
at constitutional government in Turkey. The Sultan 
Abdul-Medjid, by his Hatt-i-Humayun, or Illustrious 
Decree of February 18, 1856, issued the first Turkish 
model of what is known to the West of Europe and to 
America as a constitution. Abdul-Hamid II. issued the 
second one in November, 1876. 




3° 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


The New Constitution. 

This was formally adopted December 23, 1876, and 
is substantially as follows: 

The indivisibility of the Ottoman Empire. The sultan, 
the supreme caliph of the Mussulmans and sovereign of 
all the Ottoman subjects, is irresponsible and inviola¬ 
ble. His prerogatives are those of the constitutional 
sovereigns of the West. The subjects of the empire are 
called, without distinction, Ottomans. Individual lib¬ 
erty is inviolable, and is guaranteed by the laws. Is- 
lamism is the religion of the state, but the free exercise 
of all recognized creeds is guaranteed, and the religious 
privileges of the communities are maintained. No pro¬ 
vision investing the institutions of the state with a theo¬ 
cratic character exists in the constitution. The consti¬ 
tution establishes liberty of the press, the right of petition 
to both chambers for all Ottomans, liberty of education, 
and the equality of all Ottomans before the law. They 
all enjoy the same rights, and have the same duties 
toward the state. Ottoman subjects, without dis¬ 
tinction of religion, are admitted to the service of 
the state. Taxation will be equally distributed; prop¬ 
erty is guaranteed, and the domicile is declared in¬ 
violable. No person can be taken from the jurisdiction 
of his natural judges. The council of ministers will 
deliberate under the presidency of the grand vizier. 
Each minister is responsible for the conduct of the 
affairs of his department. The Chamber of Deputies 
may demand the impeachment of the ministers, and a 
High Court is instituted to try them. In the event of the 
chamber adopting a vote hostile to the ministry on any 
important question, the sultan will change the minis¬ 
ters or dissolve the chamber. The ministers are entitled 
to be present at the sittings of both chambers, and to 
take part in the debates. Interpellations may be ad¬ 
dressed to the ministers. Public functionaries will be 
appointed in conformity with the conditions fixed by 
law, and cannot be dismissed without legal and sufficient 
cause. They are not discharged from responsibility by 
any orders contrary to law which they may receive from 
a superior. The General Assembly of the Ottomans is 
composed of two chambers, the Senate and the Chamber 
of Deputies, who will meet on the 1st of November in 
each year, the session lasting four months. A message 
from the sultan will be sent to both chambers at the 
opening of each session. The members of both cham¬ 
bers are free with regard to their vote and in the ex¬ 
pression of their opinions. Electors are prohibited from 
imposing binding engagements upon their representa¬ 
tives. The initiative in proposing laws belongs in the 
first place to the ministry, and next to the chambers, in 
the form of propositions. Laws must be first submitted 
to the Chamber of Deputies, then to the Senate, and 
finally to the imperial sanction. The Senate is com¬ 
posed of members nominated by the sultan, and chosen 
from among the most eminent personages in the coun¬ 
try. The Senate votes the laws already passed by the 


Chamber of Deputies, and returns to the latter, or re¬ 
jects, any provisions contrary to the constitution or to 
the integrity or safety of the state. In the event of a 
dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, the general 
elections shall be held and the new chamber meet 
within six months from the date of dissolution. The 
sittings of the Chamber of Deputies are public. The 
deputies may not be arrested or prosecuted during the 
session without authority from the chamber. The 
chamber votes the laws article by article, and the budget 
by chapters. There is to be one deputy for every fifty 
thousand inhabitants, and the elections will be made by 
secret ballot. A special law will determine the mode 
of election. The mandate of a deputy will render him 
ineligible for any public office, except for a ministry. 
Each legislature will continue for a period of four years. 
The deputies will receive 4,600 francs for every session, 
which will last from November to March. The senators 
are appointed for life by the sultan, and will receive 
2,300 francs monthly. Judges are irremovable. The 
sittings of the tribunals are public. The advocates ap¬ 
pearing for defendants are free. Sentences may be 
published. No interference can be permitted in the 
administration of justice. The jurisdiction of the tribu¬ 
nals will be exactly defined. Any exceptional tribunals 
or commissions are prohibited. The office of public 
prosecutor is created. The High Court, which will try 
ministers, members of the Court of Cassation, and other 
persons charged with the crime of Use majeste, or 
of conspiracy against the state, will be composed of the 
most eminent judicial and administrative functionaries. 
No tax can be established or levied except by virtue of 
a law. The budget will be voted at the commencement 
of each session, and for a period of one year only. The 
final settlement of the budget for the preceding year 
will be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies in the 
form of a bill. The Court of Accounts will send every 
year to the Chamber of Deputies a report upon the 
state of public accounts, and will present to the sultan, 
quarterly, a statement showing the financial condition 
of the country. The members of the Court of Accounts 
are irremovable. No dismissal can take place except in 
consequence of a resolution adopted by the Chamber of 
Deputies. The provincial administration is based upon 
the broadest system of decentralization. The Councils- 
General, which are elective, will deliberate upon and 
control the affairs of the province. Every canton will 
have a council, elected by each of the different com¬ 
munities, for the management of its own affairs. The 
communes will be administered by elective municipal 
councils. Primary education is obligatory. The inter¬ 
pretation of the law's belongs, according to their nature, 
to the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, and the 
Senate. The constitution can only be modified on the 
initiative of the ministry, or of either of the two cham¬ 
bers, and by a vote of both chambers, passed by a 
majority of two-thirds, and sanctioned by the sultan. 


TAXATION , REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE. 


3 1 


X. TAXATION REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE. 


The subjects of the Sublime Porte suffer perhaps 
more from the burdensome and excessive method of tax¬ 
gathering than from any abnormal excess in the amount, 
though even in this respect they are not at all behind 
other highly privileged nations. 

The taxes of a district are sold out in the lump to 
some speculator who can supply the needed funds. 
These are known as farmers of the revenue, and not in¬ 
frequently each of these sells again to one or more par¬ 
ties, who in turn do the same, until there are often three 
profits made on what the people pay for the support of 
the government. No state official is allowed to bid for 
the taxes. The chief taxes are the following: 

Ashir, or tithes. This covers the agricultural pro¬ 
ducts of all arable lands, such as the cereals, cotton, to¬ 
bacco, grapes, olives and the like. On grain the tax is 
generally paid in kind, but on most of the other pro¬ 
ducts, in money on an estimated cash value. 

Sayme, or tithes of sheep, goats and swine, is a sub¬ 
stitute for the ashir , and when paid in kind is every 
tenth sheep, goat or swine, but -is usually paid in money 
on the basis of one-tenth the average cash valuation. 

Verg'hi is the property tax, and is a temrak-verghi , 
or tax on real estate, or timmetou-verghi , or income tax. 
The former is divided into two items, viz: four-tenths 
of one per cent, of the estimated fee-simple of all 
houses and lands; and four per cent, of all the rent 
if sublet and not subject to tithes. Six times the an¬ 
nual produce is assumed to represent the fee-simple of 
an estate. The income tax is three per cent, on all gross 
profits from invested capital, any industry or trade and 
even from manual labor. The day laborer pays 30 pias¬ 
ters, or about a dollar and a quarter of our currency; 
the journeyman artisan from two to five times as much; 
the other classes according to their estimated income. 
The exempt are all members of religious orders, school¬ 
teachers, parish doctors, hospital attendants and female 
servants, as well as all whose salaries or incomes are de¬ 
rived from charitable endowments. 

Bedel, or tax for exemption from military duty, is 
levied only on the non-Mohammedan population, and is 
based on the following rather liberal computation. The 
military quota or annual levy throughout the empire is 
one recruit to one hundred and eighty-two (1: 182) adult 
males, or eleven in two thousand. The Christian and 
other non-Mohammedan populations are exempt from 
this levy, and pay, instead, a compensation of five thou¬ 
sand piasters or about two hundred dollars in gold for 
each recruit. This is about a dollar and ten cents yearly 
for each adult male, while the Mohammedan has to pay 
from two to five hundred dollars for a substitute. 

There are some minor taxes, such as stamps, title- 
deeds, contracts and the like, but they are moderate, 
and do not call for notice. (See Table of Revenue.) 


Customs or Duties on Exports and Imports. 

The tariff on imports, and until 1869 on exports, and even 
on domestic commerce or the transfer by water of native 
products from one part of the empire to another, is eight 
per cent, ad valorem. On exports, foreign and domes¬ 
tic, the duty now is only one per cent. 

Considering the commercial importance and great ex¬ 
tent of the empire, its revenue from customs should be 
much greater than it is. The collectors of customs 
have been too much open to the influence of backshish, or 
gratuities (which may be regarded in the case of public 
officials as simply a euphemism for bribes) not to seri¬ 
ously diminish the returns. Add to this the old system 
of farming the customs, which has but recently been 
abolished, and it will be seen how Turkey, despite her 
extensive commerce, has received a very inadequate 
revenue from her exports and imports. 


Table IY. Revenue, 1876 

(GOLD VALUES.) 

Ashir, or Tithes.. 

Saymd, or sheep tax___ 

Verghi, or property tax_ 

Bedel, or exemption tax___ 

Customs or duties_ 

Tobacco____ 

Spirits_ 

Silk... 

Title-deeds_ 

Stamps_ 

Contracts_ 

Patent taxes__ 

Judicial taxes___ 

Miscellaneous taxes____ 

Sundry extraordinary receipts. 

Tributes:— 

From Egypt_____ 

From Roumania__ 

From Servia__ 

From Samos___ 

From Mt. Athos_4_ 

Total.. 


$33,824,600 

- 7 . 977 . 9 SI 

- 1^,344,500 

3,110,500 

8,067,600 

6.415.200 

1.555.200 
213,840 

3 , 7 s 1 ,920 

1,166,400 


194,400 
623,1S0 
5 < 5 < 5>442 
1,852,632 
8,03s,750 


3 , 3 I 3,646 

176,735 

101,623 

17,667 

3 ,!S 4 

$93,316,000 


Table Y. Expenditures, 1876. 


(gold values.) 

Interest on foreign debt, with sinking fund.$ 

Charges on general debt_ 

Interest on floating debt....... 

Interest on various advances. 

Interest on guarantees to railways.... 

Civil list and endowments... 

Annuities__ 

Restitutions... 

Ministries:— 

War.. 

Interior.... 

Finance___ 

Foreign Affairs__ 

Marine....... 

Public Instruction____ 

Public Works.... 

Commerce___ 

Ordnance___ 

Administration of customs.... 

Administration of forests_ 

Police department..... 

Health department_ 

Judicial salaries... 

Postoffices and telegraph lines.. 


28,006,040 

14,898,369 

5,386,532 

4,<807,862 
958,334 
7 , 75 o, 4 i 7 
4,455,240 
27,216 


I5,i74,5i4 

10,722,112 

3 , 5 S 9 , 5 i 8 

680,400 

3,110,400 

493,990 

434,873 

103,065 

3,110,400 

3,231,589 

785,200 

684,404 

332,000 

1,782,235 

1,661,730 


Total 


$112,187,340 

















































HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


3 2 


Table VI. Foreign Loans. 


Date. 

Amount. 

Rate 
at which 
sold. 

Net 

Amount. 

Rate of 
Interest 

Interest 
equalizes 
net pro- 





ceects in 

iSS 4 

£ 3,000,000 

So 

£ 2,400,000 

6 

1868 

isss 

5,000,000 

102.5 

5,125,000 

4 

1882 

1S5S 

5,000,000 

Ss 

4,250,000 

6 

1S73 

iSfio 

2,070,000 

62.5 

1,* 93 , 75 ° 

6 

1S72 

1S62 

S,ooo,ooo 

6S 

5,440,000 

6 

1874 

JS63 

8,000,000 

66 

5,2So,ooo 

6 

1S74 


36,363,363 

47-5 

i 7 . 2 72,597 

5 

1875 

»S 65 

6,000,000 

6S-S 

3,930,000 

6 

1876 

1S67 

2,500,000 

63 

1,575,000 

6 

1S7S 

1S69 

22,222,220 

60.5 

13 , 443,443 

6 

1879 

1S71 

5,700,000 

73 

4,161,000 

6 

1SS3 

1S72 

11,126,200 

95 .S 

10,959,307 

9 

1SS3 

1S73 

2S,000,000 

5«-5 

i6,3SO,ooo 

8 

1SS5 

1874 

40,000,000 

43 -S 

17,400,000 

S 

1SS2 


£iS2,981,783 


£ioS,911,097 




Floating' Debt. —This debt is variously estimated 
at nine, thirteen, thirty, and fifty millions sterling. 


Taking the average of the four estimates, or ^25,- 
500,000, and adding it to the foreign, Turkey’s total 
debt is nearly ^210,000,000, or roundly $1,000,000,000. 

It will be seen from the above table that ^74,000,000 
have been consumed in discounts, the bonds selling at 
an average of only 69.57 per cent.; and that in about 
thirty years from the date of the first loan they will have 
paid in interest all that they actually received on all the 
loans. Though the average rate of interest is but a 
small fraction over 6 per cent.(6.07), the total interest due 
each year is about $60,000,000, which is about two-thirds 
of the revenue from all sources, above given. Hence the 
Turks will be compelled to repudiate their public debt, 
or sell a portion of their territory. The deficit for the 
year before the war (1876) was over $20,000,000; and, 
unless relieved by the “ Treasury of Islam,” or the de¬ 
votion of the Mussulman population, a year of war, or 
less, will make the government hopelessly bankrupt. 


XI. THE ARMY AND NAVY. 


THE ARMY. 

By the ordinances of 1871, the army of Turkey con¬ 
sists of three classes: the Active, the Reserve, and the 
Sedentary, besides auxiliaries. After four years’ service 
in the Active army, or Nizam, a soldier is entitled to 
return home, but with the liability of being called upon 
to take his place at a moment’s notice for two years 
more, if needed. At the close of these six years he 
goes into the Reserve class, which has two sections, of 
three years each. They are required to turn out for 
drill one month in the year in times of peace, and re¬ 
ceive pay for that service. In time of war they must 
be ready to take the field in fourteen days. The full 
complement is about 192,000 men. For eight years 
longer, or twenty in all, the Turkish soldier is liable to 
duty in the Sedentary class, in case of war. This 
Sedentary force is estimated at 200,000 available men. 

Table VII. The Turkish Army. 


Class. 

Peace. 

War. 

Infantry.-.... 

100,800 

i7,2So 

7,Soo 

5,200 

1,600 

8,000 

4,000 

4,000 

117,360 

22,416 

7,Soo 

5,200 

1,600 

8,000 

4,000 

4,000 

Cavalry____ 

Field Artillery._... 

Artillery in Forts... 

Engineers.._. 

Detached troops— 

In Candia. 

In Tripoli.. ... 

In Tunis__ 

Totals...... 

Reserves.... 

i4S,6So 

170,376 

192,000 

200,000 

75 , 000 
87,624 

725,000 

Sedentary____ 


Auxiliaries...... 


Irregulars___ 


Total..... 



The army is recruited by volunteer enlistments, and, 
when necessary, by conscription. The government is 
able to supply substitutes at a fixed rate, if the drafted 
prefer to pay rather than to serve. The conscription 
affects only the Mohammedan population, but all others 
have to pay an exemption tax of about twenty-five 
cents per head. The returns from this source are about 
$3,000,000 annually. (See Bedel, under Taxation.) 

Baslii-Bazouks. 

This term denotes light-headed — the title might 
well be changed to light-fingered and heavy-handed—- 
and is applied to an irregular arm of the Turkish mili¬ 
tary service, mostly infantry. They are more celebrated 
for their marauding and butchering propensities than for 
soldierly prowess. They are mostly wild, turbulent 
gangs of Asiatic freebooters, who, under some popular 
leader of their own race, take service in the Turkish 
army for pay and plunder. Their protection is but little 
less disastrous than their enmity, and the peaceful sub¬ 
jects of the empire, more especially the Christian por¬ 
tion of them, dislike the Bazouks almost as much as the 
Turks do the Russians. 

Irregular Cavalry. 

The irregular cavalry is composed of the contingents 
supplied by the semi-independent tribes of Arabs, 
Kurds, Druses, Turkomans and Circassians that ac¬ 
knowledge the sovereignty of the sultan. Like the 
Bazouks they serve under chiefs of their own tribe or 
nation, but they are more amenable to discipline and 
therefore a more valuable arm of the service. The Cir- 


















































PRIM ITIVE TRAD ITIONS. 


33 


cassians, however, are credited with being still more 
light-fingered than the Bazouks. They vaunt them¬ 
selves on having developed stealing into a fine art. 

Army Organization. 

Exclusive of the sultan, who is commander-in-chief 
of everything in Turkey, and of his grand vizier, who is 
his alter ego , and the seraskier or minister of war, who 
represents the sovereign directly to the soldiers, the fol¬ 
lowing table gives the regular gradation, pay and ra¬ 
tions of officers and men in the Turkish army. The pay 
is computed on the basis of four cents of our money to 
each Turkish piaster. 

Table Till. Rank and Pay of the Army. 


Rank. 


Field Marshal...._ 

General of Division.. 

General of Brigade_ 

Colonel... 

Lieutenant-colonel_ 

Major_ 

Adjutant... 

Captain ... 

Lieutenant_ 

First Sublieutenant... 
Second Sublieutenant 

Sergeant-major _ 

Sergeant _ 

Corporal. 

Private_ 


Pay Per 
Month. 


1,000 oo 
313 oo 
200 oo 
100 oo 
66 67 
So 00 
2 i 00 
14 00 
:o 00 
9 20 
8 40 
2 00 
1 40 
1 20 
1 00 


Rations 
Per Day. 


12S 

64 

3 2 

12 

8 

6 

4 

2 


Forage 
Rations 
Per Day. 


64 

20 
12 
8 

3 

2 

1 


THE NAVY. 

The Turkish navy comprises about one hundred ves¬ 
sels of war fit for service (steamers and iron-clads), 
besides a number of worn-out sailing vessels, of little or 
no value. 


The steamships are about eighty in number, viz.: 
fifty-five dispatch and gunboats, fifteen corvettes, five 
frigates and five ships of the line. The twenty iron¬ 
clads, with their armaments, are as follows: 

Table IX. Ironclads. 


Name of Ship. 


Mesondive 


Mendouhiye 


Azizie 


Orkhanie. 

Osmanie_ 

Maumoudie .... 

Athar-Tevfik .. 
F'ethi-Boulend . 

Avni-Illah __ 

Muin-Zaffer_ 

Athar-Shef ket 
Negim-Shefket 
Idjla - Lieh. 

Luft-Gelil. 


Hufz-Rahman 

Fethi-Islam. . 
Beksor-Selim 
Semendirah ... 
Ishkodrah ... 
Boukovitcha . 


Style cf 

Ship. 

N umber 
of 

Guns. 

Frigate.. 

1 ” 

Frigate.. 

( 6 

1 “ 

Frigate.. 

' 

1 is 

Frigate.. 

i is 

Frigate.. 

* 1 

1 IS 

Frigate.. 

"j I 

1 IS 

Frigate.. 
Corvette . 

4 

Corvette . 

4 

Corvette . 

4 

Corvette . 

1 ; 

Corvette . 

j * 

Corvette . 

11 

Corvette . 

] ; 

Corvette . 

| | 

Gunboat . 

' 2 

Gunboat. 

2 

Gunboat . 

2 

Gunboat . 

2 

Gunboat. 

2 


Weight 
of Shot 
in lbs. 

Horse 

Power. 

400 



1S0 


1,250 

20 



400 



'S° 

* 

i , 2 50 

20 



300 

'S° 


900 

300 

' 5 ° 


goo 

300 

150 

■ 

goo 

300 

iS° 

• 

900 

250 


700 

300 


500 

250 


400 

250 


400 

250 

120 


400 

250 

120 


400 

250 

120 


400 

1S0 



40 


200 

32 



150 



40 


200 

3 2 



9-in. bore 

'So 

9-in. bore 

' 5 ° 

9-in. bore 

150 

9-in. bore 

' 5 ° 

9-in. bore 

'So 


The navy is manned by 30,000 seamen and 4,000 
marines. They are recruited in the same manner as 
the army; and the period of service is only eight years. 


XII. PRIMITIVE TRADITIONS. 


Before entering the domain of sober history it may 
not be amiss to briefly sketch the ethnological relation 
of the Turks to the other races of mankind, as well as 
to give a condensed summary of their primitive or 
mythic history. 

ETHNOLOGY. 

The people popularly designated Turks are known 
among themselves as Osmanlis, a branch of the Turks, 
who in turn constitute a subdivision of the Tartar, Mon¬ 
golian or Turanian race, itself one of the great ethno¬ 
logical divisions of mankind. It has been conjectured 
that the name Turk is as old at least as Herodotus, the 
Iurkai mentioned by him (IV., 22) being perhaps merely 
a variant of Turkai. The words Osmanli and Ottoman 
have the same origin, being simply derivatives from the 


name of the founder of the existing Turkish Empire and 
dynasty, Othrnan (Arabic), or Osman (Perso-Turkish 
equivalent), and signify the people of Osman, or 
belonging to Othrnan. 

Descent from Noah. 

Like most other peoples who have been brought un¬ 
der the influence of the Semitic religions and traditions, 
the Turks claim descent from the patriarch Noah, the 
first man of the postdiluvian world. And as becomes 
a dominant people, the proud conquerors of rival nations, 
they are descended from the oldest son and successor of 
Japheth, “the widely-spreading” and perhaps the oldest 
son of Noah. This hero eponymous of the race was of 
course named Turk, and was also known as Japhis 
Ogli or son of Japheth. Our Bible does not mention 










































































34 


II t STORY OF TURKEY. 


Turk, unless he be the Togarmah of Genesis (X., 5), son 
of Gomer and grandson of Japheth. Or its silence may 
be due to his having emigrated early to the unexplored 
Turan or inhospitable regions beyond the GihonorOxus. 

LEGENDARY HISTORY. 

It was perhaps owing to the jealousy of the Akka¬ 
dians, the Shemites, the Hamites and Cushites, as well 
as of the more western offshoots of the Japhethites, that 
the fame of Turk was so long withheld from the knowl¬ 
edge of the Western barbarians. Or it may have been 
due to the absence of railroads and telegraphs. At all 
events, it has long since been authentically ascertained—- 
by the Turkish writers of national legends—and is now 
quite as certain as such race-myths usually are, that 
Turk lived just two hundred and forty years, and left 
five sons, the eldest of whom, Taunak, reigned in his 
stead over the wide-spreading pastures of Turkistan, or 
the Land of Turk. 

Herodotus and Justin on the Turks. 

Herodotus (IV., 5) says: “ A certain Targitaus was 
the first man that ever lived in their [the Scythians’] 
country and Justin (I., 1) mentions “ Tanaus, king of 
Scythia” as prior to Ninus of Assyria. Is it fanciful to 
find in these testimonies confirmation of the primeval 
traditions of the Turks? Targitaus or Turk-iteos, means 
perhaps, Turk of the wicker-shield, from the Greek itea, 
a willow, and also a shield made of willows; and Tanaus 
is certainly not unlike Taunak, with the difference in 
termination characteristic of two distinct languages. 

Whence Their Disagreement. — The discrep¬ 
ancy between their statements where one (Justin, I., 1) 
says, “ the Scythians were always accounted the most 
ancient while Herodotus (IV., 5) states that, “accord¬ 
ing to the account which the Scythians themselves give, 
they are the youngest of all nations,” may be explained 
by the suggestion that the latter means the kingdom of 
the European Scyths, who are the subjects of his re¬ 
marks as the nation which Darius of Persia attempted 
to subdue, whereas Justin means to imply, as indeed the 
context indicates, the original stock of Asiatic Scyths. 
In that view, the identification of Targitaus with Turk 
must be abandoned, and a later descendant, Bertezema 
(of whom more hereafter), be put in his stead. This 
receives some confirmation from the additional state¬ 
ment of Herodotus, that the Scythians alleged “ that 
from the time, of Targitaus, their first king, to the in¬ 
vasion of their country by Darius, is a period of one 
thousand years, neither less nor more.” The invasion 
of Darius is placed by chronologers 508 years before 
Christ, which, with a thousand years added, gives B. C. 
1508 as the era of Targitaus. Allowing fifty-eight 
years for the reign of Bertezema, this would correspond 
with the calculation given below. 


Successors of Taunak. 

To return to the Turkish legend: A long line 
of descendants succeeded Taunak as kings—or, as they 
are called in their language, chagans or khans —of the 
flock-feeding nomads of these broad plains. 

First, there were seven khans of the undivided mon¬ 
archy, besides the original progenitor, Noah, viz.: 
Japliis, Turk, Taunak, Jelza, Dibbakui, Kajuk and 
Alanza. 

Division of the Monarchy. 

Tatar and Mogul were the twin sons of Alanza, and 
he divided his kingdom between them. In what be¬ 
came the rival kingdoms of Tatar and Mogul, there 
were also seven khans in each line, besides the respect¬ 
ive founders. 

Tatar’s Line.— Buka, Jalanza, Ettala, Attaisir, 
Ordu, Baydu and Siuntz, were the successive rulers. 

Prehistoric Mogul Dominion. 

Mogul’s Line comprised Kara, Oghouz, Kiun, Ay, 
Juldus, Mengli, Tingis, and II. It will be found that this 
list comprises eight, but the record states that Juldus was 
not of the direct line, and did not reign a year. Hence, 
there were virtually but seven successive khans, or gen¬ 
erations. 

Downfall of Moguldom.— II and Siuntz, of the 
rival kingdoms, were perpetually at war, with the ad¬ 
vantage in favor of II until Siuntz, driven by necessity, 
formed an alliance with the khan of the Khirgiz and 
others, by whose aid he destroyed the Mogul dominion. 

Sojourn of the Moguls. — A son and nephew 
of II (perhaps the Ilynos and Scolopitos of Justin, II., 4.) 
with their wives, escaped to the mountains; and by a 
winding pathway crossed to the other side, where they 
found a fertile and secluded valley, which they called from 
these circumstances, Irgana Kon. This happy valley was 
surrounded on all sides by precipitous mountains; and 
within its safe inclosure the two families and their 
numerous descendants remained “ above four hundred 
years ” — four hundred and thirty, probably, — the So¬ 
journ of the Moguls. Their numbers finally having 
become too great for the limited resources of Irgana Kon, 
they tunneled a passage through an iron mountain with 
seventy bellows working on charcoal fires! The Moses 
of the Turks was one Bertezema, already alluded to, a 
lineal descendant of the refugee prince Kajan, son of II. 

Mogul Dominion Restored. 

Bertezema was a man of mighty valor as well as 
sagacity, bringing all the surrounding tribes under sub¬ 
jection to the Moguls. This was “fourhundred and fifty 
years after the beginning of the Sojourn in Irgana Kon.” 
Fortunately the era of Bertezema can be determined with 
an exactitude corresponding to the rest of this story. 

If the same as Targitaus, the close of his reign, as 
already stated, was B. C. 1450. According to the Turkish 
historians he preceded Kabul, the great-grandfather of 


t 


A UTHENTIC RECORDS. 


35 


Qenghis Khan, by 2550 years, though only by seventeen 
generations or reigns of 150 years each! Now Genghis 
Khan’s era is historic, he having become great khan of 
the Moguls in A. D. 1205. Allowing one hundred and 
five years for the three generations between Genghis and 
Kabul, the era of the latter would be about A. D. 1100; 
eleven hundred subtracted from 2550 would give B. C. 
1450 as the era of Bertezema, which by a curious coinci¬ 
dence is the era of the entrance of Israel into the prom¬ 
ised land, according to the chronology of Ussher. It 
also harmonizes with the above statement of Herodotus. 


Bertezema’s Successors. — The twenty chagans 
from Bertezema to Genghis Khan were Kaw Idill, Bizin 
Kajan, Kipzi Mergan, Menkoazin Borell, Bukbendum, 
Simsauzi Caymazu, Temitrash, Mengli Khodja, Juldus, 
Queen Alancova (regent for her minor son, the great- 
grandson and heir of the long-lived Juldus), Budensir (a 
miraculous child of Queen Alancova through the father¬ 
hood of a spirit), Tocha Kaydu, Bassicar, Tumana, 
Kabul, Bortan, Jessugi Bayadur, and Temudjin sumamed 
Genghis Khan, or the Great Khan. This was only one 
line, but the empire of Bertezema was early divided. 


XIII. AUTHENTIC RECORDS. 


To write the authentic history of the nations that, at 
one time or another, have constituted a part of the broad 
domains now embraced in the Ottoman Empire, would 
be to write two-thirds of all authentic ancient history 
(see “ Ancient States Included,” p. 4), and not a small 
share of mediaeval and modern. Indeed, this empire 
may very conveniently be regarded by the student of 
history as the last link in the great chain of consecutive 
“ universal monarchies,” whose overshadowing predomi¬ 
nance, each in its respective period, dwarfed every con¬ 
temporary kingdom into comparative insignificance. 

If, with Justin (already cited, page 34), Tanaus be 
regarded as one of the first, or the very first, of the 
great conquerors of antiquity, the chain would begin 
and end with a representative of the Turkish or Scythian 
race, Tanaus and Abd-ul-Hamid II., the present sultan 
of Turkey, with an interval of at least one hundred 
generations. 

Great Names. 

In this mighty chain of world-renowned conquerors, 
the Titans of history, the links would represent such 
names as Menes, Cheops and Sesostris or Ramesses, of 
Egypt; Nimrod, Chedorlaomer, and Nebuchadnezzar, 
of Babylonia; Ninus, Tiglath-Pijeser, and Sargon, of 
Assyria; Zoroaster, Cyrus, and Ardishir, of Persia; Manes, 
Priam, and Croesus, in Asia Minor; Moses, David, and 
Solomon, in Judea; Minos, Polycrates, and Pittacus, of 
Tnsular Greece; Agamemnon, Solon, and Pericles, of 
Greece proper^ Alexander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, of 
Macedonia; Augustus, Trajan, and Constantine, of Italy; 
Mohammed, Togrul-Beg, and Saladin, in Arabia, Syria, 
and Persia; Genghis, Kublai, and Timur, throughout the 
East; besides Othman, Bajazet, and Soiyman, ot the Ot 
toman Empire. 

Great Events. 

Portions of this wide-spread empire were the scenes 
of all great historic events, the recollections of which 
are conjured up by this brilliant array of mighty names 


The tide of conquest swayed to and fro over its present 
territory for centuries. 

Phoenicia. —In an insignificant strip of it did an¬ 
cient Phoenicia grow to commercial importance. 

David. —In a neighboring corner, David of Israel 
won for himself a name that will never die. 

Alexander the Great. —Across its territory, from 
west to east, and beyond, did the great Alexander 
cast the splendor of his renown and the force of his 
irresistible prowess, constructing in thirteen years an 
empire that extended from the Adriatic to the Indus, 
and that has never been surpassed in its influence on 
the destinies of mankind. For though it became at 
once a victim to political disintegration upon his pre¬ 
mature demise, it had already introduced into the East 
the undying influence of Hellenic literature and western 
civilization. 

Rome, the mistress of the nations, spread the aegis 
of her protection across the whole width of the Turkish 
Empire; and under her powerful guardianship the na¬ 
tions composing it enjoyed the blessings of peace and 
prosperity for several hundred years, not indeed un¬ 
interruptedly, but with less frequent wars than are now 
inflicted on them. 

Arabic Conquest. 

Then came upon them the mighty revolution, or 
political deluge that engulfed the fairest portions of the 
East in a tidal wave of fanatical conquest under Moham¬ 
med and his immediate successors. The empire of the 
Moslem Arabs was quickly extended over all the regions 
east of Asia'Minor to the Indus, and southward to the 
Arabian Gulf. Sweeping across the Red Sea, it em¬ 
bodied Egypt, and spreading westward along the south¬ 
ern shore of the Mediterranean, it crossed into Europe 
at Gibraltar. Spain became one of its fairest provinces, 
and the wave was turned back only at Tours by Charles 
Martel (the Hammerer) of France, in 732. 

Decline.— Soon, however, wealth and luxury began 



3 ^ 


HTSTORT OF TURKEY. 


to enervate the fierce vehemence of the conquering lace, 
and their rude converts from beyond the Oxus stepped 
into the vacant place, becoming the zealous soldiers 
of Islam. 

The Turks and the Caliphate.— About 835 the 
Caliph Motassem, son of Haroun-al-Raschid, formed a 
body-guard of Turks. Like the Praetorian Guards of 
Rome, or the Turkish Janizaries of a later date, they 
made and unmade caliphs, wielding the power of the 
state while leaving to the “faineant ” successors of the 
prophet the semblance of authority, and the tinsel 
splendors of a sovereignty that was thenceforth mainly 
ecclesiastical. 

Turkistan Independent. —About one hundred 
and fifty years later, Turkistan, or Land of the Turks, 
became independent of the caliphate under the native 
dynasty of the Samanides. 

Turkish Emirs-al-Omrah. —About the middle 
of the tenth century the leader of a Turkish clan seized 
the supreme temporal power at Bagdad, founding what 
is called the Deilimite (“ Pillar of the State ”) or Bou- 
wide dynasty, but without disturbing the supremacy of 
the caliphs, being content with the title of Emir-al 
Omrah, or “Prince of Princes.” 

Seljukide Conquest. 

A century later, another Turkish adventurer named 
Togrul-Beg, grandson of one Seljuk, whence the horde 
was called Seljuks, took Bagdad, overpowering the 
Deilimites, married the daughter of the caliph, and was 
recognized as Emir-al-Omrah, in 1061. 

The power of the Seljuks soon spread over all West¬ 
ern Asia, and they established several principalities, 
one being known as Iconium or Roum (that is, Rome), 
from being conquered from the Romans, or more prop¬ 
erly from the East-Roman or Greek Empire. 

Melek Shah (1073) added Arabia, Asia Minor, Ar¬ 
menia, Syria, Palestine and Transoxiana to the previous 
conquests of the Seljuks, and the empire extended at 
the time of his death from the Hellespont to Chinese 
Tartary. But its very extent or the generous confi¬ 
dence of the emperor prepared its downfall. 

Decline. —Melek Shah divided the empire into a 
number of states theoretically dependent on the caliph 
of Bagdad and his emir-al-omrah or subordinate sultan 
in temporals, which, notwithstanding his doubly royal 
name [melek, Arabic, and shah, Persian, for king), was 
his own relation. These Seljuk princes were zealous 
Mohammedans and vigorous promoters of the faith. 
The dream was not unlike that of the papacy, to con¬ 
struct a universal empire in which each national ruler 
would recognize the supremacy of the sovereign head 
of Islam. 

Iconium. —Among the most important of the sub¬ 
ordinate principalities of this period was the sultanate of 
Iconium, otherwise Roum, already mentioned, which 
was intrusted to Solyman, a great-grandson of Seljuk. 


This sultanate continued from 1075 to 1299. It was 
frequently in conflict with the Eastern or Greek Empire, 
as well as with the Western or Latin Crusaders, and 
made its power and influence felt in Islam and through¬ 
out Christendom. 

Mongol Conquest. —In 1205, the mighty Genghis 
Khan arose to power in Mongolia, and though his per 
sonal conquests did not directly affect the caliphate 
of Bagdad or the sultanate of Iconium, those of his 
successors, the princes of his house, did reach both. 
In 1241 the sultanate was made tributary, and in 1254 
the sovereignty of the Mongols was vindicated by Houla- 
kou, the grandson of Genghis, who restored Rokneddin 
to the throne. In 1258 this Khan Houlakou conquered 
Bagdad, killing the caliph and many thousands of his 
people. 

CALIPHATE IN EGYPT. 

Upon the overthrow of the caliphate of Bagdad and the 
murder of Motassem by Houlakou, Al-Hakcn Bamrillah or 
Ahmed-al-Raschid, that is, Ahmed the Just, uncle of the late 
caliph, fled to Egypt with the insignia of the office and the 
sacred relics of Islam — the sword, banner and cloak of the 
prophet—and/was acknowledged caliph in spirituals by E’Zaher 
Baybers, the fourth of the Turkoman rulers of Egypt, known 
as Baherite Mamelukes. 

It was through the conquest of Egypt in 1517 by Selim, and 
the surrender of these very insignia and relics by the last repre¬ 
sentative of the Egyptian caliphate, at his death, in 1543, that 
the Ottoman sultans have come to be regarded as the legiti¬ 
mate caliphs of all Islam. The name of that last representa¬ 
tive of the Abbassides was El-Motawukkel-al-Aliah Moham¬ 
med. So simple a name is worthy of being more universally 
known. 

The Sacred Relics of Islam. 

These are the reputed standard, sword and cloak of Mo¬ 
hammed. There is some doubt of their genuineness, but such 
doubts do not affect the faithful followers of the prophet. 

Sandjak-Sheri, or “sacred banner,” is the Turkish, 
and Bairak , of similar signification, the Arabic name, of 
this venerated green banner of Islam. In critical moments it 
is brought from its hidden repository in the mosque of Eyub 
and exhibited to the soldiery, and sometimes sent to the front to 
awaken the enthusiasm and arouse the fanatical ardor of the 
defenders of Islam. When so carried to the front it receives the 
special distinction of being surrounded with six horse-tails. 

Its display also gives the character of a holy war ( al-jehad ) 
to any struggle in which the empire may be engaged; and this 
gives a further title to call, on the people for sacrifice and lib¬ 
erality, besides opening the “ Sacred Treasury of Islam” (p. 1 6). 
In the present war it has been brought forward early, perhaps 
in anticipation that the campaign will be short, sharp and de¬ 
cisive ; or, possibly, to secure the speedy replenishing of the 
exhausted exchequer of the sultan from the treasure-chest at 
Mecca. • 

On April 25, 1S77, Abd-ul- Hamed II., the reigning sultan, 
addressed the representatives of the army at Constantinople, 
saying: “ The fatherland is in danger. It is my duty to take 
in my hand the banner of the caliphate, and go into the midst 
of my soldiers—to sacrifice, if necessary, my life for the inde¬ 
pendence of the empire, and the honor and life of our women 
and children.” On these occasions the Sheik-ul-Islam (p. 21) 
exclaims to the assembled multitude: “This is the prophet’s 
banner; this is the standard of the caliphate. It is set up be¬ 
fore you and displayed over your heads, O, true believers, to 
announce to you that your religion is threatened, your caliphate 


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THE OSMANLI DTNASTT. 


37 


in danger, and your life, wives, children and property exposed 
to be the prey of your cruel enemies.” It is believed to have 
been given to Mohammed by divine appointment as an “ indu¬ 
bitable token of victory.” 

Sword.—The sword of Mohammed is used at the inaugura¬ 
tion of each sultan, being girded on by the highest emir or 
tributary prince present, as an emblem of the sacredness of war 
in defense of the faith. This principle is thoroughly em¬ 
phasized in the koran: “ War is enjoined to you against those 
who fight against you. Fight for the religion of God.” 
Chap. xi. “ O, true believers! if you assist God by fighting for 
his religion, he will assist you against your enemies.”—Chap, 
xlvii. And Mohammed is himself thus adjured: ‘‘O, prophet! 
stir up the faithful to war.” 

According to other authorities, the sword used on these oc¬ 
casions is the sword of Othman, the founder of the dynasty, 
while still others maintain that each sultan is girded with a 
new sword, which, at the close of the ceremony of installation, 
is laid away with those of his predecessors, making, at the 
present time, a collection of thirty-five, including the prophet’s, 
or the one that does service as his. 

This ceremony takes place on the first Friday (the weekly 
Sabbath) after the accession of the sultan. The mosque of 
Evub is honored with the distinction. Eyub, or Job, was the 
standard-bearer of the prophet. 

Cloak.—The cloak or mantle of the prophet is another of 
these relics; and one of the great feasts of Islam is held in 
its honor. During the festival, the garment is displayed for 


the veneration of the faithful, and is allowed to trail in a ves¬ 
sel of water, which, being rendered holy by this contact, is 
reverentially distributed among those present. 

Sacred Colors Among the Moslems. 

Yellow, chosen by Mohammed, or adopted from his pre¬ 
decessors, as the national color of the Arabs, is thought to be 
emblematic of the sun. 

White, the chosen color of the Ommiade dynasty, is 
supposed to be emblematic of the day. 

Black was chosen by the Abbassides, perhaps to contrast 
with the white of the Ommiades, whom they displaced. 

Green, selected by the Fatimites, and claimed to be the 
color of Mohammed’s banner, is emblematic of that, or of the 
green earth. 

Red was chosen by the earlier Osmanli sultans as an em¬ 
blem of the battlefield and their conquering mission. 

Iconium and the Mongols. —To return to the 
Mongols and the sultanate of Iconium: Khan Abaka 
extended the Mongol dominion over all the Seljuks of 
Asia Minor in 1272. Kahn Ahmed, the next of the 
series, had the reigning sultan of Iconium put to death 
in 1283. In fine, the fifteenth and last of the sultans of 
Iconium was deposed and put to death by Ghazan Khan 
and the sultanate dismembered about 1299. The decline 
of the Mongol dominion in Asia Minor soon followed. 


XIV. THE OSMANLI DYNASTY. 


EMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT. 

• 

Just before the withdrawal of Genghis Khan to his 
capital of Karakorum, in 1224, he is recorded to have 
subdued Khorassan and Persia, 1221-3. This was, per¬ 
haps, the date and the occasion of the emigration that 
gave to history the beginnings of the Ottoman Empire. 

Solyman Shah, khan or chief of Oghouz Turks, 
proceeded with his horde westward toward the dominions 
of the renowned Seljuk sultan of Iconium, Ala,-ed-din. 
According to one version, he was drowned in crossing 
the Euphrates, while another represents him as taking 
service with and receiving lands from Ala-ed-din. 

Ertogrul (“ Right-hearted ”), his son, if not himself, 
served the sultan of Iconium, and received a settlement 
for his horde on the shore of the Black Sea, and the 
banks of the Sangarius, with the title of emir, or subor¬ 
dinate prince. Here he served his sovereign, enlarged 
his dominions, and propagated Mohammedanism for 
perhaps sixty years or more, to 1288. 

A Chronological Problem. 

As this emigration would date from about 1223, and the 
arrival in the territory of Iconium within a year or two — cer¬ 
tainly not later than 1237, when Ala-ed-din died—it seems more 
probable that Solyman survived the crossing of the Euphrates, 
and divided those sixty or seventy years with Ertogrul, than 
that the latter reigned so long. This chronological difficulty 
has been met by making Othman or Osman, founder of the 


Osmanli dynasty, not the son, but the grandson, of Ertogrul; 
but the intermediate name is entirely lost, and is probably 
mythical. 

A conjecture perhaps worthy of being mentioned is that 
the emigration was due not to the ephemeral conquestof Khoras¬ 
san by Genghis, but to the much more thorough and searching 
subjugation by his grandson, Koulakou, about 1254. A grand¬ 
son of Ala-ed-din, of Iconium, was named Azza-ed-din, and 
was about this time at war for the recovery of the throne with 
his brother, Rokn-ed-din, who had obtained it from the Mon¬ 
gols. This would justify the legend recorded by Mewlana 
Ayas, as well as harmonize the principal events. According 
to the story, as the emigrant Turkish horde traveled on they 
came upon two armies engaged in battle. His officers asked 
Ertogrul which side they should take. “ Yonder is the 
weakest,” said the chivalrous Ertogrul, “ charge, and onward 
to the rescue!” This would be more intelligible in connection 
with Azza-ed-din, who recovered his throne this very year 
(1254), than with reference to Ala-ed-din, who was at the zenith 
of his power in 1225, the probable date in the alternative theory. 
Moreover, from 1254 to 12SS would be no improbable duration 
for the reign of a prince whose father was prematurely cut off, 
and the chain of chronology would not be subjected to the strain 
of perhaps a sixty-three years’ reign (1225 to 128S). 

Solyman Shah, as conjectured by Gibbon (Chap, xliv), may 
have been in the service of Jelal-ed-din (“Splendor of Relig¬ 
ion”), the last sultan or king of Khorasmia, who was dispos¬ 
sessed by the invasion of Genghis Khan, but returned about 122S 
and reconquered his possessions in the ensuing eleven years, only 
to lose them again about 1240. From thence until Houlakou’s 
conquest the march of events is uncertain, there having been 
two interregnums in the Western branch of the Mongol dynasty. 

Era of Turkish Emigration, therefore, is probably 1254. 



3 « 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


OTHMAN I. 

Othman, Athman, Taman, Ottoman or Osman — for 
all these variants of the name are given — was born 
about 1259, is believed to have succeeded his father, 
Ertogrul, in 1288, and died in 1326. 

Reign. — His emirate (or subordinate principality) 
on the Black Sea and the Sangarius extended west¬ 
ward to the Bithynian Olympus, and southward to 
Karahissar (“ Black Castle ”) and the Ishik Dagh. 
Yenishehr (“ New Town ”), on the Black Sea, was 
the capital. Upon the downfall of his suzerain , the 
fourteenth sultan of Iconium, in 1294, he extended his 
dominion, bringing a large part of Bithynia under his 
sway. And upon the death of the fifteenth and last 
sultan in 1299, he declared his independence, assumed 
the title of sultan, and ravaged the territory of Nice. All 
through the ensuing twenty-six years he conquered 
many cities and fortresses from the Greeks and the de¬ 
caying khanate or empire of the Mongols in Asia Minor, 
until his dominions embraced all Bithynia and part of 
Paphlagonia. A little before his death, the long siege 
of Brusa (p. 15), by his son Orkhan, terminated in its 
surrender, and it was at once made the capital of the 
growing state. 

Character. — His tolerance has been already illus¬ 
trated (p. 20); his other most prominent characteristics 
were zeal for Islam and skill in administration. He left a 
work on the maxims of government. 

ORKHAN. 

Orkhan was born about 1290, succeeded to the 
throne of the new sovereignty in 1326, and died in 1359. 

Reign. — He enlarged the conquests of his father, 
taking Ikmid (Nicomedia) in 1327, and Nice (Nikiea) in 
1333, with many other places. As is not unusual in the 
history of new nations, this second prince was more dis¬ 
tinguished as an organizer and legislator than as a con¬ 
queror, though without neglecting any opportunity of en¬ 
larging his inheritance. With the decline of the Mongo¬ 
lian Empire on the east, and the Greek Empire on the 
west, opportunities of this sort were not wanting, and 
before the close of his reign, in 1359, Osmanlis had 
secured their first European possession, Gallipoli (p. 12). 

Character.— Orkhan encouraged learning and the 
arts, more especially those of naval construction and mil¬ 
itary engineering. His justice and tolerance are evidenced 
by his marrying a Christian princess, as well as by his 
having been more than once chosen to arbitrate be- 
‘ tween Christian states. 

AMURATH I. 

Amurath or Murad was born in 1326, succeeded his 
father in 1359, and died in 1389. 

Reign. — He soon enlarged his borders to the 
eastward at the expense of the sultan of Karamania 


by the capture of Angora in 1360. In Europe he took 
Adrianople (p. 11) and Philippopolis in 1361, and defeated 
the Hungarians and Servians on the Maritza (p. 7) in 
1365, when he made Adrianople his capital. In 1372 
Apollonia, and in 1373 Nissa, were taken. In 1375 Ser- 
via and Bulgaria submitted to pay tribute. In 1382 
Sophia (p. 12), the first Turkish possession beyond the 
Balkans, was secured. In 1389 the power of the revolted 
Servians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Albanians, Wallachians, 
Hungarians and Dalmatians was entirely broken by the 
defeat of King Lazarus, in the battle of Kossovo, in 
which, however, Amurath lost his life. 

His reign is also memorable for the first instance of 
conspiracy and rebellion in the reigning family of Tur¬ 
key, and his son Kuntuz paid the penalty of his folly 
by being blinded and imprisoned. 

Character. — A conqueror, his “ virtues ” were of 
the rugged sort, being more conspicuous for the enforce¬ 
ment of discipline than for the culture of the schools. 
His autograph was the imprint of his fist dipped in red 
ink! He is, however, credited with loving to associate 
with learned men, and doing his utmost to promote the 
proper administration of justice. 

Janizaries. 

Janizaries (Jeni-tsheri, “ new soldiers ”), a Turkish military 
force, originally formed by the Osmanli Sultan Orkhan, about 
1330, of young Christian prisoners compelled to embrace Mo¬ 
hammedanism; and more perfectly organized by Sultan Amu¬ 
rath I., after 1362, when the number was raised to about 10,000, 
and especial privileges were conferred on them. They were for 
some time recruited from Christian prisoners; but their privi¬ 
leges soon induced many young Turks to seek admission into 
their body. There were two classes of Janizaries, one regularly 
organized, dwelling in barracks in Constantinople and a few 
other towns, and whose number at one time amounted to 60,000, 
but was afterwards reduced to 25,000; and the other composed 
of irregular troops, called jama&s, scattered throughout all the 
towns of the empire, and amounting in number to 300,000 or 
400,000. At the head of the whole Janizary force was the cigha 
of the Janizaries, whose power was limited only by the danger 
of revolt, and extended to life and death. The Janizaries were 
always ready to break out into deeds of violence if their pay or 
perquisites were withheld. In times of peace they acted as a 
police force. They served on foot; generally formed the re¬ 
serve of the Turkish army, and were noted for the wild impetu¬ 
osity of their attack. The sultan’s body-guard was formed of 
them. The Janizaries, however, soon began to be very unruly; 
and their history abounds in conspiracies, assassinations of sul¬ 
tans, viziers, aghas, etc., and atrocities of every kind; so that, by 
degrees, they became more dangerous to the sultans than any 
foreign enemies. The attempts of the sultans to reform or dis¬ 
solve them were always unsuccessful, till Sultan Mahmoud II., 
in 1S26, being opposed in some of his measures by the Janizaries 
in Constantinople, displayed the flag of the prophet, (p. 36) and 
succeeded in arousing on his own behalf the fanatical zeal of 
other portions of his troops. The Janizaries, deserted by their 
agha, and other principal officers who remained faithful to the sul¬ 
tan, were defeated, and their barracks burned, when S,000 of them 
perished in the flames. A proclamation of June 17, 1826, de¬ 
clared the Janizary force forever dissolved. All opposition was 
defeated with bloodshed. Not fewer than 15,000 were executed, 
and more than 20,000 were banished. 


THE OS MAN LI DTNASTT. 


39 


BAJAZET I. 

Bajazet, or Bayazid, was bom in 1347, succeeded to 
the throne in 1389, and died in 1403. 

Reign. —He completed the Osmanli conquest of Asia 
Minor by the capture in 1390 or 1391 of Philadelphia, 
in Lydia—called by the Turks Allah-Shehr, “ God’s 
City,” or “ Exalted City ”—the last stronghold of the 
Greeks in Asia Minor. He made Wallachia tributary 
in X393, reduced Silistria, Nikopolis and Widin (pp. 12, 
13) in 1394, ravaged Bosnia, Croatia and Styria in 1395, 
defeated the Hungarians and their allies, under Sigis- 
mund, in 1396; and overran most of Greece in 1397. 

Relinquishing his career of conquest in Europe to 
protect his Asiatic possessions against Tamerlane, his 
preparations were inefficient, or made too late. His 
son Ertogrul was defeated and killed by the oncoming 
Mongols at Sivas, on the Kizil Irmak (p. 9), in 1400; and 
in 1402, on their return from the south, he lost another 
son, Mustapha, who was either killed or escaped to be¬ 
come in time the pretender Mustapha hereafter men¬ 
tioned, while he himself, and a third son, Musa, were 
taken prisoners at Angora. He died the ensuing year, 
and his captive son was made viceroy by Tamerlane. 

Character. — He was conspicuous for the celerity of 
his military movements, as indicated by his nickname, 
Ilderim or “ lightning,” and no less so for firmness and 
decision. He was of a compassionate disposition, and 
endeavored to promote the welfare of his subjects. The 
erection of mosques, more especially of two great ones 
at the capitals, Brusa and Adrianople, as well as med- 
resses and hospitals, evinced his liberality, devotion and 
love of learning; and he was no less distinguished for 
his efforts to improve the administration of justice. 

Partition and Civil War. 

The conquest of Asia Minor by Tamerlane prov¬ 
ing a mere predatory raid, more especially through 
his own death early in 1405, the authority intrusted 
to Musa was soon set at defiance by his brothers, 
and the four surviving sons of Bajazet became inde¬ 
pendent and rival sultans of sections of the empire: 

Isa at Brusa, Solyman at Adrianople, Musa at 
Angora, and Mahomet at Amasia, the capital of the 
ancient Pontus. Musa defeated and killed Isa in 
1403, and Solyman in 1410, annexing their domains. 
He attempted the conquest of Constantinople in 1412, 
but was obliged to raise the siege by the united forces 
of Manuel II., Palseologus, of that city; and his own 
brother Mahomet, of Amasia. Finally, Musa was taken 
prisoner and put to death in 1413 by the latter, who 
thus reunited the dominions of his father, and is thence¬ 
forth known as Mahomet I. 

MAHOMET I. 

Mahomet I., or Mohammed, was bom in 1374, suc¬ 
ceeded to a part of the empire in 1403, to the whole 111 
1413, and died in 1421. 


Reign. —After securing the'united’sovereignty of 
the empire, his reign was comparatively peaceful. He 
restored to his late ally, Manuel, some districts on the 
Euxine, the Propontis and in Thessaly. He sent to the 
several Christian rulers of Bulgaria, Servia, Wallachia, 
Lacedemon, Achaia, and Janina in Albania, through 
their respective ambassadors, this message: 

“ Tell your masters that I offer them peace; that I 
accept of that which they offer me, and that I hope the 
God of peace will punish those who violate it.” 

He had some minor wars with the petty princes of 
Asia Minor, and suppressed the rebellion of Mustapha, a 
real or pretended brother. He ravaged Wallachia and 
fortified Giurgevo — famous as a Danubian fortress ever 
since — as a defense against the incursions of the Wal- 
lachs. 

Character. — He is credited with a sincere love of 
justice, clemency and peace, without dishonor. He re¬ 
stored the empire, weakened by the invasion of Tamer¬ 
lane and the rivalry of his brothers, to its previous pros¬ 
perity, besides slightly enlarging its borders at the expense 
of some of his more turbulent neighbors. 

AMURATH II. 

Amurath II. was born about 1404, succeeded his 
father in 1421, and died in 1451. 

Reign.. —Amurath’s first care was to crush the pre¬ 
tender, Mustapha, which he accomplished in 1423. He 
then turned his arms against Manuel II., of Constanti¬ 
nople, for having supported the pretensions of Mustapha, 
but failed to take the city, and raised the siege, in 1422, 
to crush a rebellion that had been started by Greek 
intrigue in favor of his brother Mustapha, a boy of six 
years, who was taken and put to death in 1424. He re¬ 
newed the treaties of peace made by his father with the 
Christian states already mentioned under that reign. 

He was occupied during 1425 in reducing some tur¬ 
bulent vassals in Asia Minor, and in 1426 he warred 
against the Venetians, ravaging Zante. In 1429, he took 
Saloniki (p. 12) and extended his dominion overGreece. 
In. 1442, he was defeated by the Christian allies, under 
Huniades, at Sophia, and made peace. Losing a favorite 
son, Ala-ed-din, governor of Amasia, he abdicated in 
favor of his son Mahomet, and retired to Magnesia. A 
second victory by Huniades at Kunobitza or Nissa, in 
1443, recalled him to the head of affairs, and he won the 
decisive victory of Varna in 1444. Again he withdrew, 
but two years later was again compelled to take charge 
of affairs to restrain the Janizaries and to quell the re¬ 
volt of Scanderbeg in Albania. He was repulsed by the 
latter in 1446, but he obtained a great victory over the 
Christian allies, under Huniades, in the second battle of 
Kossovo, in 1448 

Character. —He is credited with a love of build¬ 
ing, and care of the sick, as well as of religion. When¬ 
ever he took or built a city, he provided it with a jatrn 
or first class mosque, an imaret or hospital, a rnedres- 


4 o 


HIS TORT OF TURKEY. 


sek (p. 23) and a khan or caravansary. Among other 
public enterprises he erected a bridge, of cut stone, with 
seventy-two arches, across the Erkene and the adjoining 
swamps. 

MAHOMET II. 

Mahomet II. was born at Adrianople, in 1430, suc¬ 
ceeded his father in 1451, and died in 1481. 

Reign.—He was proclaimed sultan on his father’s 
retirement, in 1445, but in a few months the scepter was 
resumed by Amurath. He succeeded permanently on the 
death of his father, in 1451, and soon engaged in the 
siege of Constantinople, which he took by storm on 
May 29, 1453, thus overthrowing the East-Roman Em¬ 
pire. The last emperor, Constantine XIII., fell bravely 
in the breach, and was buried with imperial honors. 
Three days the city was given up to the horrors of pil¬ 
lage and massacre; and then the conqueror established 
order, set free the prisoners, and allowed the conquered 
freedom of worship. He had the great church of Santa 
Sophia converted into a mosque. Thrace and Macedo¬ 
nia were soon subdued. In Albania he was successfully 
resisted by the famous Scanderbeg; and at Belgrade, 
which he besieged in July, 1456, was defeated with im¬ 
mense loss by Huniades. He made the conquest of the 
Morea in 1458; of the Empire of Trebizond, ruled by 
the Comneni since 1204, in 1461; Lesbos in 1462, and 
Negropont in 1470. In 1476, he conquered the Crimea, 
and appointed a khan of the Tartars as his tributary 
there. In 1480, he prepared a formidable expedition 
against Rhodes, then held by the knights of St. John, 
and began the siege in May. But the defense, con¬ 
ducted by the grand-master, was heroic, and the siege 
was raised in August. 

Character. —He was surnamed Al-Bujuk or “ The 
Great” and Al-Fatih or “The Opener,” that is, the con¬ 
queror of Constantinople. He was a man of great mili¬ 
tary and administrative ability; and was famous for his 
literary attainments and love of learning. He is cred¬ 
ited with being able to speak five languages besides his 
own, viz.: Greek, Latin, Arabic, Chaldaic and Persian. 
He was well versed in Turkish literature and history, 
and highly esteemed such men as had attained eminence 
in any art or science. 

SIEGES AND SEIZURES OF CONSTAN¬ 
TINOPLE. 


I. As Byzantium. 

1. Captured from prehistoric Thracians, or founded by Me- 
garians under Byzas, whence its name, B. C. 657. 

2. Taken by Persians under Otanes, B. C. 505. 

3. Taken by the Greeks under Pausanias, B. C. 474. 

4. Taken by the same under Cimon, B. C. 467. 

5. Taken by the same under Alcibiades, B. C. 40S. 

6. And by Lysander, B. C. 405. 

7. Besieged by Leo, general of Philip of Macedon, B. C. 347. 
S. Besieged by Philip himself, B. C. 340-39. 

9. Made tributary by the Gauls, B. C. 279. 

10. Taken by Romans under Septimius Severus, A. D. 196. 


11. Besieged by the same under Maximinus II., 313. 

12. Taken by Constantine the Great, in 315, who refounded 
or rebuilt it, 324 10330, when it was called Constantinople in h'is 
honor. 

II. As Constantinople. 

1. Seized by the usurper Procopius, in 365. 

2. Seized by the Nike faction of the populace, and burnt in 
532, but rebuilt immediately by Justinian I. 

3-9. Besieged seven times by the Arabs under Prince Yezid 
and General Sophian, for seven consecutive years, 668-75. 

10. Again by the Arabs, 716-1S. 

11. Again by the same, in 739. 

12. By the Bulgarians under Paganos, in 764. 

13. By the Arabs under Haroun-al-Raschid and his brother 
Othman, 781-2. 

14. By the same under Abd-ul-Melek, in 79S. 

15. By the Slavs under Kramus, inSn. 

16. By the same under Thomas, in S20. 

17. By the Russians under Oswald, in 866. 

18. By the same, in 904. 

19. By the Bulgarians under Simeon, in 914. 

20. By the Russians, in 941. 

21. By the same, in 1043. 

22. By the rebel Thornicius, in 1048. 

23. By Alexius Comnenus, in 10S1. 

24. Bv the Crusaders under Dandolo, in 1204. 

25. By the “ Greeks ” under Michael Palacologus, in 1261. 

26. By the same under Andronicus the Younger, in 132S. 

27. Besieged by Musa, son of Bajazet I., in 1412. • 

2S. Besieged by Amurath II., in 1422. 

20. Besieged and taken by Mahomet II., in 1453. 

BAJAZET II. 

Bajazet II. was born in 1447, succeeded his father 
in 1481, and died in 1512. 

Reign.— His first military success was the defeat of 
his brother Djem or Zizim at Yenishehr, in 1481. He 
wrested Cephalonia from Venice in 1484. A protracted 
conflict with the Mameluke sultans of Egypt engaged his 
attention, 1485-91. He made a treaty with Poland in 
1490. The first relations of Russia with Turkey be¬ 
long to his reign. In 1495, Ivan III., of Moscow, sent 
an embassy asking for privilege to trade within the 
Turkish dominions. He had a second war with Venice, 
1499 to 1502; one with Persia, I 5°4 to 1508. Finally in 
1512 he abdicated in favor of his son Selim, or was de¬ 
posed by him, and died about a month later. 

Character. —He was a friend of religion, being a 
great builder of mosques, medresses, jarnis, imarets and 
khans (p. 39), and a liberal patron of dervishes. He also 
fostered learning and favored learned men, having him¬ 
self no little pretensions to literature. He is said to have 
built a marble bridge of nineteen arches over the Kizil 
Irmak, and a similar one over the Shiog Sui. 

Correspondence of Baj’azet and Selim. 

This is submitted to show how a revolution was accom 
plished in Turkey in 1512. It will also help to illustrate the spirit 
of the times, and perhaps vindicate Selim from being a mere 
brutal parricide. 

Selim’s Message.— “He would notin the least disobey 
his father’s orders, but was ready to go wherever he thought fit 
to send him; provided he pleased to satisfy some doubts he had 
entertained concerning the present administration of affairs. 




THE OS MAN LI DYNASTY. 


4 1 


“ Sofi Ogli [that is, son of Sofi, meaning- Ismael Shah Soft, 
descendant of Sofi, and Ring of Persia], a man of no account, 
has risen in the East, and with a swift progress laid waste the 
Ottoman Empire as far as Cresar;ea; whilst you, instead of de¬ 
fending the provinces, are an idle spectator of his victories. 

“ On the other hand a Circassian [the Mameluke sultan] of 
obscure birth and name, who ought to be prostrate under the 
sword of the Ottomans, has made himself master not only of 
Egypt, but also of many countries in Syria, formerly subject to 
our dominion; and holds them to this day as if they were his 
lawful inheritance. To such contempt is fallen the majesty of 
the empire, revered under our ancestors, that they who formerly 
under the reign of Bajazet were feared by the neighboring na¬ 
tions as invincible heroes, are now under the same reign, as men 
inactive and effeminate, scorned and affronted. Where is now 
the honor of the Othmanli scepter ? Where the military disci¬ 
pline? Where the zeal for propagating the law? Where the 
art of government? Is it thus the empire is enlarged? Is it thus 
the ardor of our hitherto invincible soldiery is preserved? 

“These things duly weighed, let my father himself judge, 
whether they who, by their own consent, permission or negli¬ 
gence, have been the cause of these mismanagements, can es¬ 
cape punishment. For, unless a timely remedy be applied to 
these corruptions, we shall be obliged to ascribe the approach¬ 
ing and almost the unavoidable ruin of the empire to our sloth, 
and not to the bravery of our enemies.” • 

Bajazet’s Reply.— “ I too plainly see that my son’s busi¬ 
ness is not to visit his father, but right or wrong to seize the 
empire. However, I am convinced it is designed for him by 
heaven, from my dreaming last night that my crown was by the 
soldiers placed on his head. Since, therefore, I deem it impious 
either to act or attempt anything against the will of God, with 
an humble resignation to divine providence I laydown the in¬ 
signia of government, and will and command that Selim be by 
all saluted emperor.” 

SELIM I. 

Selim I. was born in 1467, succeeded to the throne 
in 1512, and died in 1520. 

Reign. — Selim’s first care was to secure himself 
firmly on the throne by removing his disaffected broth¬ 
ers. Achmed was defeated and killed in 1512, and 
Korcud in 1513. His next enterprise was the prosecu¬ 
tion of the Persian War, 1514-17, in which he was 
successful, annexing several districts, among others the 
important ones of Kurdistan (Assyria) and Al-Jazireh 
(“ the island ” or “ the peninsula”), that is, Mesopotamia. 

He defeated and killed the sultan of Egypt, Al- 
Ashref Quansoo (or Khansou) Al-Ghori, of the Borgite 
Mameluke dynasty at Aleppo in 1517; and his successor 
Al-Ashraf Touman Bey, near Cairo, the same year, 
whereupon he annexed Egypt to the Ottoman Empire. 

The sherif of Mecca made his submission to the 
conqueror at Cairo, presenting to him the keys of the 
religious capital of Islam (p. 16). On his return several 
cities of Asia, previously subject to Egypt or Persia, sub¬ 
mitted; and he was saluted Shahin-shah-i-alem or 
“King of the kings of the world,” and Shaheb-kerani- 
beni-Ada/n, or “Sole master of the sons of Adam.” 

Character. —He was an able monarch, indefatigable 
in his efforts for the welfare of the state, and of great 
sagacity. Endowed with a clear head, a strong arm and 
ready wits, he did more for the greatness of Turkey by 
his conquests in Asia and Africa, and the religious pres¬ 


tige that accrued from the latter, than any of his prede¬ 
cessors. Notwithstanding his nickname, Yavuz, (“ The 
Passionate,” or “The Ferocious,”) he was a lover of liter¬ 
ature and a dabbler in poetry. 

THE FIRST OTTOMAN CALIPH. 

It is generally assumed that Selim, by the conquest of Egypt, 
became the first. Ottoman caliph, and the submission of the 
sherif of Mecca gives countenance to that opinion. The follow¬ 
ing statement of the case, though it assigns that honor to his 
successor, is thought to be more consonant with all the facts. 

On becoming master of Egypt, Selim took with him to Con¬ 
stantinople the Abbasside caliph already mentioned (p. 36), who, 
however, returned to Egvptupon the death of Selim in 1520, and 
resided there until his own death in 1543. He continued to be 
recognized as caliph, or sovereign head of Islam, in spirituals, 
until that event, when the insignia of his office were sent to 
Solyman the Magnificent, who was thus the first Ottoman caliph. 

SOLYMAN I. 

r He was born in 1490, succeeded to the throne in 1520, 
and died in 1566. 

Reign.—Having suppressed a rebellion in Syria, he 
turned his arms against the Imperialists, and besieged 
Belgrade, which he took in August, 1521. The next 
year he sent a powerful fleet against the isle of Rhodes, 
which for more than two hundred years had been held 
by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. He joined 
the armament himself in August, and, after five months’ 
siege, Rhodes surrendered to him in December, 1522. 
Solyman next suppressed a revolt in Egypt; exempted 
in 1525 the French in his dominions from the tribute 
imposed on his other Christian subjects; and suppressed 
a revolt of the Janizaries. 

In 1526 he invaded Hungary and gained the victory 
of Mohacz, in which the king, Louis IT., and a great part 
of his army, were killed; entered Buda and burnt it; lost 
it in 1527, made treaty with Hungary in 1528, and retook 
Buda, in behalf of John Zapolski, his ally and vassal, 
in 1529. He had the garrison massacred, contrary to 
the terms of the capitulation; and at Altenburg, which 
he stormed soon after, all the inhabitants were slaugh¬ 
tered by his order. In September, of the same year, he 
undertook the siege of Vienna, but the resistance of the 
besieged, headed by Frederick, prince-palatine, com¬ 
pelled him after twenty days to retire. In 1531 he 
again defeated the Hungarian army at Gradiska, in 
Bosnia. 

In 1534, he passed into the East, and engaged in 
war with Persia, took Van and other towns in Upper 
Armenia, entered Bagdad in 1535, and made himself 
master of Tauris or Tabriz. He made a treaty of com¬ 
merce with France, and made Moldavia tributary in 
1536 . 

War with the German Emperor for the kingdom of 
Hungary broke out again in 1540. Renewed wars with 
Persia, Russia and Africa occupied the armies of the 
sultan during the following years. He concluded 
long wars with Germany in 1547, by accepting tribute 


42 


HISTORY OF TURK FT. 


from the Emperor Ferdinand for Hungary. In 1552 the 
war was renewed. Transylvania was made a Turkish 
province, and the Turkish fleet defeated the imperial 
naval forces at Jerba, in Tunis, in 1558. The dissensions 
of his sons, Selim and Bajazet, embittered his domestic 
life, and Bajazet, being defeated, fled to Persia, where 
he was put to death with his children. In 1560, Tripoli 
was taken by the fleets of Solyman, and in 1565, Malta, 
held by the Knights of John since the loss of Rhodes, 
was attacked; but it was successfully defended by the 
grand-master John dela Valette. Solyman again invaded 
Hungary, but died in his camp before Szigeth, Szigeth- 
var or Ziget, August 30, 1566. 

Character. —He was a prince of equal valor and 
wisdom, alike able to vindicate the honor of the Os- 
manlis in the battlefield or council chamber — no less 
distinguished for his skill in the arts of peace than for 
military prowess, and one of the greatest sovereigns 
of his time. Like several of his predecessors, he en¬ 
riched his dominions with useful public buildings, and 
gave due encouragement to all the arts, besides being a 
liberal patron of learning, with some personal preten¬ 
sions to literature. He received the surname Kanundji 
(or “Canonist”) from his contributions to Ottoman juris¬ 
prudence, by compiling the Kanun-Nameh (p. 26), and 
other improvements in the administration of justice. 
^Ie_was ambitious, and fond of splendor (whence his sur¬ 
name, “ The Magnificent), and faithful to his promises. 

SELIM II. 

Selim II. was bom about 1524, succeeded his father 
in 1566, and died 1574. 

Reign. — He reduced a revolt in the Euphrates 
valley in 1567. By the treaty of Adrianople in 1568, he 
made peace or truce for eight years with the Emperor 
Maximilian II., who agreed to pay an annual tribute of 
thirty thousand ducats for Hungary. Peace with Per¬ 
sia was ratified the same year, and with Venice in 1569. 
He reduced a rebellion in Yemen the same year, and in 
1570 attacked Cyprus, which he wrested from Venice, 
after a ['year’s struggle, in 1571, notwithstanding the 
peace of 1569. Meanwhile, in 1570, the Turkish gov¬ 
ernor of Algiers conquered Tunis from the Arabs and 
annexed it to the Ottoman Empire. The Turks were 
defeated in the great naval battle of Lepanto, October 
7, 15 7 1 •> by the Christian fleet under Don John of Aus¬ 
tria— the beginning of the end of Turkish dominion in 
Europe. The Venetian War was continued with varying 
success, until closed by the peace of 1574, when they 
agreed to pay three hundred thousand ducats —one-third 
down, balance in two years— to the Ottomans. Tunis was 
retaken by Don John of Austria, in 1573, and restored to 
the Arabs under Mohammed, brother of the late king 
Ahmed. A rebellion in Moldavia was reduced, Tunis 
was recovered and Mohammed taken prisoner, and a 
Hungarian revolt was subdued in the last year of this 
reign. 


Chax'acter.— He is believed to have been the 
weakest of the Ottoman sultans up to his time, and was 
surnamed Mest, or “The Drunken.” He is credited 
with being of a gentle disposition, but a sensualist; 
fond of jesters and buffoons; and, though careful to as¬ 
sume a religious bearing in public, he gave a free scope 
to self-indulgence in the retirement of the seraglio. The 
empire of the Ottomans began to decline in his reign, 
and he was probably not free from a large share of the 
responsibility. 

AMURATH III. 

Amurath was born about 1545, succeeded his father 
in 1574, and died in 1595. 

Reign. — From the beginning of his reign the de¬ 
mands of the Janizaries became more exorbitant, and 
the weak Amurath felt compelled to yield. He executed 
or countenanced the execution of his five brothers as an 
assumed political necessity to prevent rebellions, and 
not through any personal feeling of vindictiveness or 
cruelty. In 1575 he instigated the invasion of Russia 
by the Tartars of the Crimea, and gave a king to Po¬ 
land in the person of his tributary, Stephen Bathori, of 
Transylvania. After two years of preparation he com¬ 
menced the Persian War of 1578-89, and the field of 
operations, as has been the case so often since, embraced 
Erzeroum, Kars, Tiflis and the adjoining regions of Ar¬ 
menia and Georgia. In 1579, Queen Elizabeth of England 
obtained a commercial treaty from Amurath. In 1580 
the Druses in Syria rebelled in favor of their core¬ 
ligionists, the Shiites of Persia. In 1580 and 1581 Per¬ 
sia sued for peace, but was refused. 

In 1584, the Tartar khan of the Crimea rebelled, but 
was reduced to obedience; and in 1585 the regions of 
Lake Van were conquered. The first resident British 
ambassador settled at Constantinople in 1589; and the 
Cossacks crossed the Turkish borders to plunder. In 
1590) peace was made with Persia, Turkey retaining 
Georgia, Erivan and Tabriz. The increasing insolence 
of the Janizaries culminated in an open revolt after 
their return from the Persian War, in 1590, on the plea 
of being paid in debased coin, and demanded the sur¬ 
render of the defterdar (p. 28), but the emeute was sub¬ 
dued by the servants of the palace (p. 20). In 1592, 
war was begun against the German Empire, resulting in 
the defeat of the Archduke Matthias, and the capture of 
Raab, in Hungary, in 1594. 

Character.— This sultan was of an unwarlike dis¬ 
position, but a fair administrator. He kept the turbu¬ 
lence of the Janizaries somewhat in check, and reformed 
the worst of the excesses and abuses that had crept into 
the palace during the reign of his father. He promoted 
temperance, and enforced the restrictions of the koran 
by the punishment of drunkards. He was superstitious, 
feeble and irritable, and was much influenced by the 
counsels of the valida sultana (p. 28) and of the other^do- 
mestic powers behind the throne. He was fond of music 


THE OSMAN LI DTNASTT. 


43 


and dancing, and gave himself up to the pleasures of 
the harem. 

MAHOMET III. 

Mahomet was born in 1566, succeeded his father in 
1595, and died in 1603. 

Reign. — According to the usage that had now be¬ 
come established at the Court of Constantinople, he put 
to death his nineteen brothers to secure tranquility. 

The Turkish power had already begun to decline in 
Hungary, and the strong city of Gran, which had been 
conquered in 1543, and had successfully resisted the 
Archduke Matthias in 1593, had just fallen into the hands 
of the imperialists under Prince Charles Von Mansfeld, 
in 1595. Mahomet, at the head of his troops, invaded 
Hungary, captured Agria and defeated the Archduke 
Maximilian in 1596. The ensuing year Michael the 
Brave, of Wallachia, submitted to the sultan, who, how¬ 
ever, lost Raab to the imperialists, in 1598, whereupon 
Michael reconsidered his action, joined with the imperi¬ 
alists and reconquered Nissa, in Bulgaria, from the 
Turks, and in 1599 defeated the sultan’s adherents. 

The same year a revolt in Karamania disturbed the 
peace in Asia Minor, and Iconium was wrested from the 
empire, but the rebel was taken and killed in 1600. In 
Hungary, the same year, Kanisa was taken from the im¬ 
perialists, and Alba Regalis or Stuhlweissenburg lost to 
them. In 1602, the revolt in Karamania broke out 
again with renewed vigor, and carried all before it in 
those regions, while in Hungary Alba Regalis was re¬ 
covered and the imperialists were repulsed from Buda. 

A rebellion of the Janizaries at the capital, in 1603, 
jeopardized the lives of the sultan’s confidants, and re¬ 
proached him with the perils of the state. “Why do 
you not rescue the empire? ” said their spokesman; and 
again, “Will you take care of the government, or allow 
each one to take care of himself? ” The tumult was 
appeased by the cowardly surrender of the kapu-agha 
(p. 19) who was made the scapegoat for the government. 

The Karamanian rebels seized Angora and Brusa, 
obtaining peace from the sultan on their own terms. A 
conspiracy in favor of his son Mahomet or Selim (au¬ 
thors differ) was discovered the same year, and the young 
prince, with his mother, put to death. The Hungarian 
War was prosecuted with varying success, but with the 
advantage in favor of the imperialists; and during pre¬ 
liminary negotiations for peace the sultan died, Decem¬ 
ber 21, 1603. 

Character. —- He is charged by Christian historians 
with being proud, indolent and mean-spirited, wholly 
addicted to pleasure, and surrendering the government 
to sycophants and women. The silence of Turkish 
writers gives show of probability to these charges. He 
died unlamented of his subjects. 

ACHMED I. 

Achmed, Achmet or Ahmed, was born in 1588, suc¬ 
ceeded his father in 1603, and died in 1617. 


Reign.— He was the first of the sultans that began 
to rule at an age so immature, but through his own sa¬ 
gacity or the prudence of his advisers he proceeded to 
govern with fair success. Having bought the sup¬ 
port of the Janizaries and Spahis (see below) he de 
posed his grandmother, the valida sultana (p. 28) of the 
late reign, and actual ruler during the life of her pleas¬ 
ure-loving son. The Hungarian orlmperial and Persian 
Wars, besides various insurrections in Asiatic Turkey, dis¬ 
turbed the tranquility of the empire. 

The Imperial War continued from 1603 to 1606, 
when it was closed by the treaty of Silvatorok, Novem¬ 
ber 11, 1606, leaving to Turkey the strongholds of 
Raab, Gran, etc.; and the Persian War from 1603 to 1612, 
when it was closed by a peace which left Persia in pos¬ 
session of its conquests, the chief of which were Ta¬ 
briz, won in 1603, and Erivan, in 1604, but under a 
promise of an annual tribute to Turkey of two hundred 
camel-loads of silk. A great rebellion in Karamania and 
Syria, under the pacha of Aleppo, 1605-9, en< ied in his 
subjugation and pardon. 

In the tributary state of Transylvania a perpetual 
revolution might be said to have prevailed during this 
reign. The internal conflicts of the Catholic and 
Protestant parties found their outside support respect¬ 
ively from Austria and Turkey. 

In Wallachia the hospodars or tributary governors 
received their investiture or confirmation from the Porte 
after 1610. A renewal of the Imperial War in 1614 gave 
varying advantages to either side until again closed by 
a more explicit treaty in 1616. 

Character. — Among other things he was a great 
builder, and the mosque of Achmed still commemorates 
his magnificence, liberality and piety. He enjoyed the 
pleasures of the harem to a more extravagant extent 
than any other sultan, if it be true as stated that he 
kept therein no less than three thousand women. lie 
was fond of falconry and hunting; and altogether was a 
proud, sensual and inglorious sultan. 

Spaliis. 

Spahis were the cavaliers furnished by the holders of mili¬ 
tary fiefs to the Turkish army, and formed the elite of its cav¬ 
alry. They, with the Janizaries (p. 3S), owed their organization 
primarily to Orchan, the second of the Ottoman sultans, finally 
to Sultan Amurath I. ; and when levied en masse, could number 
140,000, but such a levy was very seldom called for. In the 
field, they were divided into two classes, distinguished by the 
color of their standards ; one class had pistols and carbine, the 
other a bow and arrows, and both carried a saber, lance, and 
jerid, or javelin. They were excellent irregular troops f but 
when European organization was introduced into the Turkish 
army, half a century ago, they were replaced by regular horse. 

MUSTAPHA I. 

Mustapha, Mustafa, Moustapha or Moustafa — so va¬ 
rious are the spellings — was born about 1590, succeeded 
his brother in 1617, was deposed in 1618, succeeded his 
nephew in 1622, was again deposed in 1623, and died of 
poison or by strangling in 1639. 


44 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


Reign. — His elevation to the throne is said to have 
cost him three million ducats, paid to the Janizaries for 
their countenance and support, though he was the legiti¬ 
mate heir according to the Turkish law of succession 
(p. 19). The political events of his first term of four 
months are not noticed by historians, being probably 
but few and unimportant. 

OTHMAN II. 

Othman or Osman II. was born in 1604, succeeded 
his uncle in 1618, and was strangled by Janizaries, 1622. 

Reign. —An embassy was sent to France, soon after 
his accession, to apologize for maltreatment of the French 
ambassador. The Persian War was also prosecuted with 
humiliation and loss, Tabriz, Erivan and Georgia being 
definitely surrendered at the peace of 1618. In 1619 
he supported the pretensions of Bethlen Gabor, of 
Transylvania, who thereupon, allying with the Bohe¬ 
mians, was proclaimed king of Hungary the ensuing 
year. The Turks and their allies invaded Poland in 
1621, and, after a campaign of no great results, made 
peace in 1622, the Turks retaining Choczim in Bessa¬ 
rabia, and the Poles withdrawing from Moldavia. Re¬ 
newed the Germanic or Imperial War, and the Persian, 
in 1622, a short time before his death. 

Character. —Being a mere youth at his death, only 
eighteen according to the dates above assigned, and but 
twelve according to other writers who date his birth in 
i6»o—his character is undefined. His administration 
was due to his viziers and counselors rather than to him¬ 
self. He is charged with parsimony or avarice, which 
probably means that his ministers were not as liberal to 
the Janizaries as had now become customary; and he 
lost his life on that account, or because the agents of the 
deposed Mustapha bid higher for their support. 

MUSTAPHA I. (again). 

Reign continued (see above). His restoration 
in 1622 cost him a million and a half of ducats, or about 
ten thousand a day for the five months he was suffered 
to reign the second time. Peace was made with Poland 
and the Germanic Empire in 1622. Three rebellions in 
Asia, with centers respectively at Bagdad, Mosul and 
Erzeroum, disturbed the peace of the empire, but not of 
the sultan, who was sunk in inglorious ease or stupid 
imbecility in the seraglio. A fourth in Asia Minor 
threatened destruction to the Janizaries. These de¬ 
manded and obtained the second deposition of Mus¬ 
tapha, early in 1623. 

Character. —There seems to be an entire unanim¬ 
ity among historians in delineating Mustapha as a slave 
to lust and indolence to the extent of absolute imbe¬ 
cility and an utter disregard of public affairs. 

AMURATH IV. 

Amurath IV. was born in 1609, succeeded his uncle 
in 1623, and died in 1640. 


Reign. —The several rebellions alluded to under 
the late reign continued to disturb the early years of the 
present one; and the internal dissensions were further 
aggravated in 1624 by a rebellion of the Tartars of the 
Crimea, who defeated the forces of the sultan, and se¬ 
cured the prince of their choice. In 1625 Mosul and 
Bagdad were taken by the Persians, and the same year 
a truce with the German Empire was made or renewed. 
The three years 1626-8 were mainly occupied with 
efforts to reduce the rebel Abaza of Erzeroum, who de¬ 
feated several armies, but was finally delivered up by the 
inhabitants. 

The sultan’s next concern was the recovery of 
Bagdad, to which, after several failures by his viziers and 
pachas, he bent all his own energies from 1634 to its 
capture in 1637. In 1636 peace was renewed with Po¬ 
land ; in 1637 Azof was taken by the Cossacks from the 
Tartars of the Crimea. In 1639 peace was made with 
Persia, Turkey retaining Bagdad, and Persia, Erivan. 

Character. —He received the surname Al-Ghazi 
(“Valiant for the Faith”) more especially for his reduc¬ 
tion of Bagdad, where his “valor” was stained by a 
wholesale massacre of 30,000 sectaries for the good of 
“ the faith.” He was a drunkard, often of the maddened 
type, who in his paroxysms dealt death around him, as if 
men were but worms, and thought it rare sport to shoot 
down unoffending citizens. While a slave to wine, he 
forbade the use of opium and tobacco to his subjects. 
He has been styled the Turkish Nero, and apparently 
the name was well deserved. He possessed, however, 
some good qualities as a ruler. He was of great per¬ 
sonal strength, courage and activity; tenacious of his 
purpose, he commanded success; and had he known 
how to command himself he would probably have been 
among the greatest of the Osmanli sultans. In religion 
he was inclined to be liberal, and laughed freely at the 
superstitions of the dervishes. He properly appreciated 
a well filled treasury, and left 15,000,000 in gold ducats, 
or about $30,000,000, where he had found nothing. 

Dervishes. 

Dervish is a Persian word signifying poor , corresponding to 
the Arabic Fakir. It designates, in Mohammedan countries, a 
class of persons resembling in many respects the monks of 
Christendom. The dervishes are divided into many different 
brotherhoods and orders. They live mostly in well-endowed 
convents, called Tekkije or Changah, and are under a chief 
with the title of Sheik. Some of these monks are married, and 
allowed'to live out of the monastery, but must sleep there 
some nights weekly. Their devotional exercises consist in 
meetings for worship, prayers, religious dances, and mortifica¬ 
tions. As the convent does not provide them with clothing, 
they are obliged to work more or less. 

It is difficult to say when these religious orders cook their 
rise. From the earliest times, pious persons in the East have 
held it to be meritorious to renounce earthly jovs, to free them¬ 
selves from the trammels of domestic and social life, and to 
devote their thoughts in poverty and retirement to the contem¬ 
plation of God. In this sense, poverty is recommended by Mo¬ 
hammed in the koran. Tradition refers the origin of these 
orders to the early times of Islam, making the caliphs Abu-Bekr 


THE OSMAN LI DYNASTY. 


45 


and Ali found such brotherhoods; but it is more probable that 
they arose later. Many Mohammedan princes and Turkish sul¬ 
tans have held dervishes in high respect, and bestowed rich 
endowments on their establishments; and they are still in high 
veneration with the people. The orders are generally named 
after their founders, and the best known are tlie Bestamis, 
established a. d. S74; Kadris, 1165; Ru/aji, 11S2; Mevelevis, 
1373; Nakshibendis , 1319; Beklas/iis, 1357; Rushenis, 1533; 
Shemsis, 1601 ; and Jemalis , 1750. 

IBRAHIM. 

Ibrahim was born in 1613, succeeded his brother in 
1640, and was strangled in 1648. 

Reign.—Peace was made with the German Empire 
for twenty years, and Azof, a convenient refuge for the 
pirates of the Black Sea, was recovered from the Cos¬ 
sacks in 1641. A Venetian War, begun in 1645, out¬ 
lasted this reign twenty years, with Candia as the bone 
of contention and the chief seat of conflict. Ibrahim 
was deposed and strangled by fetwa of the Sheik-ul- 
Islam (p. 27), which is worth recording and is as follows : 

“Whosoever obeys not the laws of God is not a true 
believer, although the person should be the sultan him¬ 
self ; but being a common kafir , (infidel,) by his actions, 
he has by the fact fallen from the throne, and is no 
longer capable of authority or entitled to government.” 

Character.—He was a gross sensualist, entirely 
given up to the pleasures of the harem-—a monster of 
lust, bending all his energies to the discovery of new 
methods of gratifying his desires. He took no interest 
in the management of affairs, but had the good fortune 
to have the services of a distinguished and faithful 
vizier. 

MAHOMET IV. 

Mahomet was born in 1642, succeeded his father in 
1648, was deposed in 1687, and died in 1693. 

Reign.—The Black Sea was infested with pirates, 
and domestic broils in the palace and the capital ended 
in the death jof the vizier, in 1649. The valida sultana 
(p. 28) of the late reign, and grandmother of Mahomet, 
held the chief control of the government, despite the 
intrigues of the new valida sultana and her party. 

The Venetian War was prosecuted without decided 
advantage 1648-56, but with some naval victories in the 
Archipelago, to the Venetians, 1653-5; and rebellions at 
Damascus and Cairo, 1652-4, distracted attention and 
divided the resources of the government, while at the 
capital the Janizaries and Spahis united to harass the 
ministry, despoil the treasury, decapitate the vizier, expel 
the Sheik-ul-Islam and even demand the deposition of 
the young sultan, in 1655. 

At this conjuncture, luckily for Turkey, a vizier of 
extraordinary ability was appointed, and Turkey was 
saved from defeat or dissolution. (See below, Mahomet 
Koprili). 

Tenedos and Lemnos were recovered from the Vene¬ 
tians in 1657; a dangerous mutiny of the troops at Adri- 
anople was suppressed in 1658; and the rebellious pacha 


of Aleppo, who supported a pretender—a real or pre¬ 
tended son of Amurath IV.—was taken and put to 
death in 1659. 

On the German frontier Grosswardein in Hungary 
was taken from the imperialists in 1660, and the same 
year Racoczi, hospodar of Transylvania, was deposed and 
killed for having aided Sweden against Poland. The 
year 1661 was signalized by two victories over the Impe¬ 
rialists in the open field, and the deposition of Kemeni 
Janos who had succeeded Racoczi the year before, and 
was killed in 1662. 

In the east the new vizier reduced the revolted Kurds 
by his lieutenants in 1662, arid distinguished himself in 
the Imperial War in 1662-3, taking the strong Hunga- 
rian fortress of Neuhausel in 1663. He was, however, 
badly defeated by the Imperialists under Count Raymond 
de Montecuculi at St. Gothard in 1664, and made peace 
—known as the peace of Temesvar—on the basis of 
retaining his conquest and the recognition of Michael 
Abaffi, Turkish appointee, as hospodar of Transylvania. 
A rebellion of the Mamelukes in Egypt was quelled the 
same year. In 1665 the vizier returned in triumph to 
Constantinople and prepared for an active personal par¬ 
ticipation in the Venetian War in Candia. 

A popular tumult at Saloniki, due to the pretended 
messiahship of a Jewish rabbi, who promised to wrest 
the crown from the sultan within a year, was quelled 
in 1666, and the impostor or dupe, Savatei Sevi, saved 
his neck by turning Mohammedan. Candia fell in 1669 
(p. 9), and the Venetian War was closed by treaty made 
in 1670, ceding Candia to Turkey. 

In 1670 the native Greeks began to be first employed 
by the Turks to fill important but inferior positions in 
the government; and about the same time the Cossacks 
of Ukraine placed themselves under the protection of 
the Porte, withdrawing their allegiance from Poland. 

The Polish War, 1672-6, followed, which, notwith¬ 
standing the victory of Sobieski at Choczim in 1673, re¬ 
sulted in the cession of Podolia, with its fortified capital, 
Kamieniec, and the southern portions of the Ukraine 
(“the frontier”), to Turkey, in 1676. 

First Russian War, 1678-82, closed by the cession 
to Russia of the Ukraine and other Cossack territory. 

The Imperial War, 1682-99, brought on by Count 
Emeric Tekeli, who had revolted against the Germanic 
Empire in 1678, at the head of the Hungarian malcon¬ 
tents. Tekeli, declared king of Hungary by the Turks 
in 1682, joined in invading Austria in 1683, and besieg¬ 
ing Vienna. The prestige of Turkish military prowess 
was lost through the repulse of the Turks before Vienna, 
by the Christian allies under Sobieski of Poland, and 
the panic and flight that ensued. 

Imperialists, Poles and Venetians allied against the 
Turks in 1684, and while the first besieged Buda, the 
last bombarded Athens and reduced several important 
points in Greece. Neuhausel was recaptured in 1685, 
Tekeli being defeated in his attempt to relieve the gar 


4 6 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


rison, and soon after taken prisoner to Constantinople, 
whereupon the Hungarians made peace with the Ger¬ 
man Empire. Tekeli was, however, again active in sub¬ 
sequent Hungarian campaigns. Buda, after belonging 
to the Turks since 1541, also surrendered to the Impe¬ 
rialists in 1686. 

Second Russian War, 1687-99, ended by the ces¬ 
sion of Azof to Russia. The great victory of the Im¬ 
perialists at Mohacz, in Hungary, led to a revolution at 
Constantinople and the deposition of the sultan. 

Character. —He was eminent for clemency, justice 
and warlike ability, and, with the exception of the ill 
success of his later years, one of the most prosperous as 
well as most worthy of the sultans of Turkey. 

Deposition of Mahomet. 

To show how these things were done in Turkey in 16S7, as 
well as for the inherent interest of the views expressed, three 
speeches by the principal actors are here submitted. The 
kaimakam (p. 2S) alluded to, was the governor of Constan¬ 
tinople. 

Kaimakam’s Speech to the Ulema.— “There is no oc¬ 
casion to do things in a hurry, since the Shahzadeh [heirs pre¬ 
sumptive] are securely guarded by the Bastandji-Bashi [p. 20]; 
and it behooves you to proceed in such a manner as might both 
preserve the honor of the Ottoman family, and prevent more 
dangerous commotions. It were better to send the Sheik-Sheri 
[Sheik-ul-Islam p. 27] and Nakib-sheri [or standard-bearer, 
p. 36] to the sultan to declare him deposed, in the name of the 
ulema [p. 26] , the soldiery, and the whole Mussulman nation; 
and then desire him to leave the palace of his own accord, and 
resign the empire to his brother Solyman.” 

The Sultan’s Reply. — “You have brought me no news 
but what I expected; for I have long since found that the com¬ 
mon people are corrupted by the ulema, who are desirous of 
change, and engaged by them in their rebellion, which I might 
have prevented by banishing the leaders. 

“ I know of no cause or pretence for this impious attempt 
against one who can point to a successful reign of forty years, 
except the breach of peace with the emperor of Germany, and 
the ill success of the war for the last four years. And yet the 
ulema themselves first persuaded me to that war, and the 
Sheik-ul-Islam, the head of their confederacy, did by his fetzva 
pronounce it to be just 

“Instead of endeavoring to appease the divine wrath by 
fasting and prayer, which is their proper office, they have 
instigated the people to trample on my authority and the laws, 
of which they are the guardians. 

“ I know that the people, through the influence of the ulema, 
are now too deeply rooted and confirmed in their wicked de¬ 
sign, yet I also know that the righteous God will prove my 
avenger, and severely punish the corrupted people forthe injury 
they offer me.” 

The Nakib’s Rejoinclei’. — “We are not sent here by the 
people to hear your apology, but to command you, in the name 
of the whole Mussulman assembly, to quit the throne. If, 
therefore, you desire to preserve your honor and life, you will, 
of your own accord, resign the government to your brother 
Solyman; since if you attempt to oppose the will of the citizens, 
they will, notwithstanding, execute their resolutions.” 

Mahomet’s Submission. — “Since I see the divine indig¬ 
nation, stirred up by the sins of the Mussulmans, discharged on 
my head, go and tell my brother that God’s decree is declared 
by the mouth of the people, and he is appointed governor of the 
Othmanli Empire,” 


The Koprili Family. 

The first of these were a father and son who filled succes¬ 
sively the office of vizier in this reign for twenty years, 1656-75. 
The family is supposed to have been of Frankish origin, and 
Koprili is the name of the city where they settled. 

Mahomet Koprili was born 1585, and was therefore over 
seventy years old when he was made vizier, in 1656. Before 
his death, in 1661, he secured the appointment of his son as 
assistant vizier, with the right of succession — something 
entirely new in Turkish annals. 

Ahmed Koprili was born in 1626, succeeded his father, 
Mahomet, as vizier in 1661, and held that position until his 
death, in 1675. 

Kara Mustapha Koprili, brother-in-law of the foregoing, 
succeeded him as vizier in 1675, and was put to death in 16S4, 
mainly for his failure against Vienna. 

Mustapha Koprili, son of Ahmed, became vizier in 16S7, 
helped to restore the honor of the Osmanli dynasty, under Soly¬ 
man II. and Achmed II., and was killed at Salankement in 1691. 

Abdallah Koprili, born in 16S1, was governor of Con¬ 
stantinople in 1699, when he was deposed in a revolution of the 
Janizaries. 

Ragiiib Koprili, distinguished himself as vizier, 1757-62. 

SOLYMAN II. 

Solyman II. was bom in 1639, succeeded his brother 
in 1687, and died in 1691. 

Reign. —Ill success and loss of strongholds in Hun¬ 
gary characterized the year 1688, Sclavonia, Croatia and 
Bosnia being conquered by the Austrians—fall of Bel¬ 
grade. The Turks were defeated at Nissa in Bulgaria in 

1689, but the vizier Mustapha Koprili, surnamed “The 
Virtuous,” stemmed the tide of defeat, driving the Austri¬ 
ans beyond the Danube and recovering Belgrade in 

1690, besides winning several minor victories in Servia 
and Transylvania. 

Character. —Solyman II. is noted among the Otto¬ 
man sultans for his devotion, strict observance of the 
law, and reputed sanctity even to the working of 
miracles, but better fitted to be a dervish than an em¬ 
peror—a dull, heavy, simple, weak-minded hnd, accord¬ 
ing to some, intemperate man, whose energy, if he ever 
possessed any, had been deadened by his long seclusion 
during the reign of his brother. 

ACHMED II. 

Achmed II. was born in 1643, succeeded his brother 
in 1691, and died in 1695. 

Reign. —His army in Hungary was defeated, and its 
leader, Mustapha Koprili, slain at Salankement, about 
two months after his accession. Other losses from the 
Christian allies (Austrians, Poles, Venetians) in Hungary, 
Dalmatia and the Greek island, followed. A sedition at 
Brusa in 1693, a rebellion in Arabia and plundering of 
the caravans on the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1694, and 
the loss of Chios to the Venetians after 128 years’ 
occupation, as well as a great fire in Constantinople in 
1695, marked the other years of this inglorious reign. 

Character. —He resembled his predecessor in de¬ 
votion, but was not quite as saintly, being of a more 


T1IE OS MAN LI DTNASTT. 


47 


lively and joyous disposition. He was somewhat of a 
poet and musician. He affected to administer justice 
with impartiality, though he was easily swayed in his 
judgment by the suggestions of his venal favorites, whom 
his simplicity and want of capacity often enabled to 
make large amounts out of his well-meant attempts at 
playing Solomon. 

MUSTAPHA II. 

Mustapha II. was born 'in 1663, succeeded his uncle 
in 1695, was deposed in 1703, and died the same year. 

Reign. —He took command of his army in Hun¬ 
gary. and in the Archipelago recovered Chios, in 1695. 
The Arabian rebel Mahomet was defeated, and the vic¬ 
tory of Olasch, near Temesvar, over the Germans, won 
in 1696. He returned in triumph to his capital early in 
1697, but the tributary Tartars of the Crimea lost Azof 
to Peter the Great of Russia, and he was himself badly 
defeated the same year by Prince Eugene, at Zenta in 
Hungary, with the loss of 30,000 men, fifteen pachas of 
two horse-tails, and twenty-seven pachas, or beys, of one 
horse-tail. 

Negotiations with the Imperialist allies chiefly occu¬ 
pied the year 1698, followed in 1699 by the peace of 
Carlowitz, by which Croatia, Transylvania and Hungary, 
except Temesvar, which with Belgrade in Servia, and 
Nissa in Bulgaria, constituted the strongholds of the 
empire on the German frontier—were surrendered to 
Austria; Podolia, with its fortified capital Kamieniek, to 
Poland; Azof, with its territory, to Russia; the Morea and 
some strongholds in Dalmatia, to Venice—the era of Tur¬ 
key’s humiliation before Europe, and the final extinction 
of its dominion in Hungary. The four years 1698-1702 
were occupied with various reforms in the adminis¬ 
tration, and strengthening the German frontier, as 
determined by the Peace of Carlowitz. In 1703 the 
sultan was obliged to abdicate, probably because of his 
zeal for reform, and his abandonment of Constantinople 
for Adrianople as a residence. 

Character. — He was of good judgment, intrepid 
courage, great activity, and strict sobriety. He was 
religious and just; liberal in expenditure without ex¬ 
travagance, and though the Turkish dominions in Eu¬ 
rope were very seriously curtailed by the Peace of 
Carlowitz, it was rather his misfortune than his fault 
that a long series of disasters culminated in that event 
during his reign. He evinced his wisdom and states¬ 
manship by endeavoring to secure what remained, as 
well as remove the internal disorders and insubordina- 
Hon to which the humiliation of his people was due. 

ACHMED III. 

Achmed III. was born in 1673, succeeded his brother 
in 1703, was deposed in 1730, and died in 1736. 

Reign. —Warned by his predecessor, he restrained 
the violence of the Janizaries, and devoted the earlier 
part of his reign to the reforms begun by his brother. 


The refugee Charles XII. of Sweden residing in Tur¬ 
key, 1709-14, endeavored in vain to induce Achmed to 
declare war against Russia, but his intrigues so compro¬ 
mised the Turks that Peter the Great invaded Moldavia 
in 1710- Third Russian War. Peter was, however, 
glad to purchase peace, and the permission to recross the 
Pruth, by the cession of Azof in 1711. Threatened 
ruptures with Russia, 1712-13, were prevented by the 
diplomacy of Count Peter Tolstoi; and Charles XII., 
refusing to leave Turkey, was confined until 1714, when 
he escaped to Sweden. 

In 1715 the Morea was reconquered from Venice; but 
the following three years were marked by disasters on 
the Austrian frontier. In 1716 Peterwardein was lost to 
Austria, in 1717 Belgrade, and by the peace of Passaro- 
witz, in 1718, both were ceded to the Imperialists, to¬ 
gether with Temesvar in Hungary, and parts of Bosnia. 

The first Turkish ambassador to a Christian Court 
was dispatched to Paris in 1721, whence he took back the 
first printing press to Constantinople in 1726. 

In 1723 the Turks and Russians invaded Persia, and 
in 1725 made a treaty of partition of the northern and 
western provinces of Persia adjoining their respective 
dominions. In 1726 the Turks overran Persia as far as 
Ispahan, but were driven back by Meer Ashraf, the 
Afghan usurper, who made peace in 1727—the Peace of 
Bagdad—ceding Azerbijan, Luristan and part of Irak- 
Ajemi with their respective capitals, Tabriz, Hamadan 
and Teheran, in return for which he was recognized by 
the Turks as Shah of Persia. This treaty was ignored 
by the legitimate shah, Tahmasp, and his commander- 
in-chief, Nadir Khouli, who expelled the Turks from 
their late acquisitions in 1730. The Persian War, 1730- 
54, was renewed, but the successes of Nadir Khouli 
created a revolution in Constantinople, which ended in 
the forced abdication of Achmed. 

Character. —He favored learning and the arts of 
peace, was fond of innocent pleasures, and left the act¬ 
ual adminstration mainly to his viziers and officials, 
while he amused himself with building, with various 
sports and entertainments, entirely harmless, but which 
served as a subject of reproach, when the Janizaries got 
ready to depose him on the occasion of the Turkish dis¬ 
asters in the East, in 1730. 

MAHMUD I. 

Mahmud I. was born in 1696, succeeded his uncle 
in 1730, and died in 1754. 

Reign. — The Persian War was temporarily closed 
by the Peace of Erivan in 1732, by which Shah Tah¬ 
masp ceded all beyond the Aras River. This was re¬ 
pudiated by Nadir Khouli, who deposed the shah and 
continued the war with success, expelling the Turks 
1 733 — 5, and making peace with them in 1736, on their 
surrendering all claim to Armenia and Georgia. 

Simultaneously with this repulse in northern Persia, 
the Russians, in concert with the Austrians, commenced 


4 8 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


aggressions in the north and west — Fourth Russian 
War. Azof, Otchakov, and other important strong¬ 
holds, were wrested from the Turkish tributaries, the 
Tartars of the Crimea, by the Russians in 1737. Aus¬ 
tria* on the contrary, lost Servia, Bosnia and Wallachia 
in 1738, her army being signally defeated at Krotzka in 
1739, and Belgrade besieged by the Turks. The war 
was closed by the Peace of Belgrade, by which all that 
Turkey had ceded in 1718 were recovered, except Tem- 
esvar, and all the Crimean territory, except Azof. Mol¬ 
davia, with Choczim and Jassy, which had just been 
taken, were also surrendered by Russia. 

Persian War was renewed, 1743-6; Kars and Mosul 
successfully resisted the Persian besiegers, but the Turks 
were badly defeated at Erivan in 1745, and at the peace 
of the following year, the boundaries remained un¬ 
changed. The rest of his reign was peaceable; anarchy, 
civil war or divided empire prevailing in Persia, and the 
Austrian succession occupying the attention of the Im¬ 
perialists. 

Character. —He was of a peaceful disposition, and 
left the administration largely to officials, but as he was 
judicious or fortunate in his selections, his reign, though 
devoid of eclat, was fairly prosperous. The Ottoman 
power was respected, though not dreaded, by its neigh¬ 
bors in Europe, and under the guidance of the sultan, or 
his advisers, it carefully eschewed all entangling alli¬ 
ances with the contending states of Europe. 

OTHMAN III. 

Othman III. was born about 1696, succeeded his 
brother in 1754, and died in 1757. 

Reign. —Received an embassy from Persia in 1755, 
and built the Mosque of Othman about the same time. 
French influence at Constantinople on the decline, on 
account of the alliance between France and Austria, in 

1756. A Turkish embassy, however, was sent to Vienna 
in 1757. A great fire at Constantinople is said to have 
destroyed 80,000 houses the same year. 

Character. —Nearly sixty at his accession, of which 
the greater part had been spent in seclusion, his power 
of government was lost through want of acquaintance 
with public affairs, and the shortness of his reign gave 
no opportunity to recover or improve such abilities as 
he may originally have possessed. 

MUSTAPHA III. 

Mustapha was born in 1716, succeeded his cousin in 

1757, and died in 1774. 

Reign. —Immediately after his accession, he pro¬ 
ceeded to enforce sumptuary laws against extravagance 
in dress of males and females, but his government was 
preserved from contempt at home and abroad by the 
genius of his vizier, another of the Koprilis named Rag- 
hib, the ablest statesman of the family except Achmed. 
He held the reins of power until 1762. 


The revolt of the Mamelukes in Egypt under Ro- 
doan and Ali Bey ended in their independence in 1766 
and the conquest of Syria in 1771. 

Fifth. Russian War, 1768-74, waged by Turkey, 
in support of one of the rival parties in Poland, against 
Russia. The campaign of 1768 on the Dniester was fa¬ 
vorable to the Turks; that of 1769 to the Russians, 
who took Choczim. The ensuing campaign proved still 
more disastrous, the Turks losing Moldavia and Wal¬ 
lachia, and being driven across the Danube. The same 
year (1770) saw the Turkish fleet destroyed at Tchesme, 
near Smyrna, in Asia Minor, by the Russians, and a rev¬ 
olution in Greece, which, however, was subdued. 

In 1771 the Crimea and adjoining regions were con¬ 
quered by the Russians, the Porte losing one of its 
most effective weapons against Russia; and Shumla on 
the Danube was fortified by the Turks. In 1772, some 
attempts by Austria to secure a peace proved unavailing. 

The Russians first crossed the Danube in 
1773 , but were defeated and driven back by the Turks 
under Ghazi-IIassan, that is, Hassan the Valiant. The 
same year Egypt and Syria were restored to the Otto¬ 
man Empire by the loyalty of Mahomet Abu-Dahab 
who deposed his father Ali Bey. 

Character. —He favored literature and the arts, 
encouraged commerce, promoted discipline among the 
troops, and improved the finances of the empire. He 
was sincerely solicitous for the welfare of his people, 
and, though his idea of making them less extravagant 
and more virtuous by sumptuary legislation necessarily 
proved abortive, he evinced his humanity by the libera¬ 
tion of slaves and imprisoned debtors, and the protec¬ 
tion of the poor from injustice and wrong. 

ABD-UL-HAMED I. 

Abd-ul-Hamed I. was born in 1725, succeeded his 
brother in 1774, and died in 1789. 

Reign. —The Russians again crossed the Danube, 
took Silistria and invested Shumla, in 1774. Peace of 
Kutchuk-Kainardji (see below) followed later in the 
same year. In the east, Bassorah was taken by Persia 
1775, and held until 1779 - Bukowina in northwestern 
Moldavia was ceded to Austria in 1776. In Arabia the 
reforming Wahabis had entered upon their career of con 
quest, and indirectly'affected Turkey in weakening the 
sense of allegiance among Mussulmans to the Ottoman ca¬ 
liphs by alleging degeneracy und corruption throughout 
Islam and demanding reformation, like Mohammed and 
the earlier caliphs, at the point of the sword. 

In 1783 Russia expelled the Tartar khan of the Cri¬ 
mea and seized his territory, which Turkey was com¬ 
pelled to ratify in 1784, just ten years after Russia had 
formally surrendered all claim upon it by the treaty of 
Kutchuk-Kainardji. The prince of Georgia submitted 
to Russia, and that pbwer formally but secretly enter¬ 
tained a project for the establishment of a Christian 
state under a Russian prince at Constantinople, to re- 


THE OS MAN LI DYNASTY. 


49 


place the Ottoman power at least in Europe—a project 
which has loomed up every quarter of a century since. 

In Egypt the Mamelukes revolted under Ibrahim 
Bey and Murad Bey, but they were subdued by Ghazi- 
Hassan in 1786, the government being, however, left to 
the Mameluke Beys on payment of a stipulated tribute. 

The Sixth Russian War, 1787-92, and the Aus¬ 
trian War, 1788-91, soon followed, reducing Turkey to a 
condition of relative insignificance, always on the de¬ 
fensive. The Turks unsuccessfully attempted to recover 
the Crimea in 1787, and were signally defeated at the 
mouth of the Dnieper. In 1788 they had some success 
against the emperor of Austria, at Lugos in Hungary, 
but it was more than counterbalanced by the loss of 
Choczim in Bessarabia and Otchakov, near Kherson, in 
Crim-Tartary, to the Russians. 

Character. —He was a cipher in the government, 
having been rendered'lncapable of discharging the func¬ 
tions of a sovereign by his forced seclusion of fifty years. 

Peace of Kutchuk-Kainardji, 1774. 

Bv this treaty the entire independence of the Tartars of the 
Crimea and the neighboring- regions, known collectively as 
Crim-Tartary, was guaranteed. Neither Russia nor Turkey 
was to interfere in their political affairs, nor their internal con¬ 
cerns of any kind, under any pretext whatever. In another ar¬ 
ticle it was stipulated that Bessarabia, Moldavia and Wallachia 
should be restored to Turkey, on certain conditions, some of 
which were, that Christians should not be obstructed in the free 
exercise of their religion ; that if occasion arose the Russian 
ambassador might remonstrate ; and the Porte promised to listen 
to such remonstrances with all the attention which is due to 
friendly and respected powers. Another article restored Geor¬ 
gia and Mingrelia to Turkey. 

SELIM III. 

Selim III. was born in 1761, succeeded his uncle in 
1789, was deposed in 1807, and strangled in 1808. 

Reign. —Belgrade and Bender were taken by the 
allies in 1789, and Ismail in 1790. The Peace of Sis- 
tova, with Austria, in 1791, and that of Jassy, with Rus¬ 
sia, in 1792, closed the Austrian and Russian Wars, with 
still further territorial losses — Choczim to Austria, and 
all beyond the Dniester to Russia — besides not less 
than 100,000 men. The successful rebellion of Osman- 
Passvvan-Ogli (see Widin, p. 12), which made him virtual 
master of Bulgaria, was due to the sultan’s attempt to 
reform the Janizaries. His decree organizing the Nizam- 
Djedid (Regular Army) was designed to introduce into 
his army a military organization similar to those in use 
by the western powers. In 1798 the French War broke 
out by the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon, securing the 
very uncongenial alliance between Russia and Turkey. 
The Mamelukes were defeated and Cairo taken by the 
French. In 1799 England formed her first alliance with 
Turkey, against France. Naples also joined in the 
coalition against the Republic and Napoleon. French 
invasion of Syria repulsed at Acre in 1799, and the tak¬ 
ing of Malta and Cairo in 1800 and 1801 by the British, 
led to the evacuation of Egypt by the French in i8ox 


and the Peace of Amiens in 1802, guaranteeing the ter¬ 
ritorial integrity of the Turkish Empire. In Arabia the 
Wahabi War 1801-18, extended to the taking of Mecca 
in 1803 and of Medina in 1804. Domestic insurrections 
against his reforms signalized 1805. In Servia, Czerni 
(Kara or Black) George, elected hospodar in 1803, revolted 
in 1804 and successfully defied the power of the sultan, 
taking Belgrade in 1806, and becoming independent in 
1807. In Egypt, Mehemet Ali, who had distinguished 
himself against the French in 1799, and against the 
Mamelukes in 1804, was made viceroy of Upper Egypt in 
1806. 

Seventh Russian War, 1806-1809, England 
as Russian ally, and France aiding Turkey, began mainly 
through the predominance o? French influence at Con¬ 
stantinople. Moldavia and Wallachia were occupied by 
Russia. In 1807 a British fleet forced the Dardanelles, 
but was obliged to withdraw; a landing was effected by 
the same in Egypt, when they captured Alexandria, but, 
being defeated at El-Hamed, were forced to capitulate. 
An insurrection of the Janizaries culminated in the 
defeat of the regular army, the massacre of the advocates 
of the new regime, the revocation of the decree insti¬ 
tuting the Nizam-Djedid, and the deposition of Selim. 

Character. —He was the most progressive of the 
sultans, and labored assiduously, in the intervals of war, 
at assimilating his government to what he considered 
the best models of Western Europe. He promoted 
manufactures, arts and commerce, and contributed much 
to the happiness and prosperity of his subjects, but the 
fossilized conservatism and rabid fanaticism of a theo¬ 
cratic and therefore unimprovable government could not 
be overthrown by one liberal and clear-sighted sover¬ 
eign, more especially in a reign of eight years. The 
character of Selim III. compares favorably with that of 
the most enlightened sovereigns of other sections of 
Europe. 

MUSTAPHA IV. 

Mustapha IV. was born in 1779, succeeded his 
cousin in 1807, was deposed and strangled in 1808. 

Reign. —The chief events of his reign were the con¬ 
tinuance of the Russian War, the agreeing to an armistice 
with the Servians, and also with the Russians—Truce of 
Slobodja in Wallachia—all in 1807. On the arrival of 
the Turkish army of the Danube under Bairaktar to re¬ 
place Selim on the throne, he was strangled in prison by 
order of Mustapha, who was in turn deposed by Bairak¬ 
tar, in 1808. 

Character. —His reign was too short to afford a 
sufficient basis for intelligent analysis; but judging from 
those of his predecessor and successor, his tendencies 
were probably reactionary. 

MAHMUD II. 

Mahmud II. was born in 1785, succeeded his brother 
in 1808, and died in 1839. 


5° 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


Reign. —Immediately after his accession, the Jan¬ 
izaries once more broke into rebellion, and killed many 
of the Nizam-Djedid, but Mahmud promptly executed 
his rival Mustapha and all of his heirs, which left him¬ 
self the sole survivor of the reigning family. In 1809, 
peace was made with England, but the conflict was 
renewed with Russia— Eighth Russian War , 1809-12. 

The same year, Mehemet Ali of Egypt was intrusted 
with the task of reducing the Wahabis in Arabia. 
In 1810 these penetrated as far as Damascus, in Syria; 
and on the Danube the Russians took Rustchuck, Giur- 
gevo and Silistria, but failed against Shumla. In 1811, 
Mehemet Ali disencumbered himself by the massacre of 
the Mameluke Beys at Cairo, thus becoming master 
of all Egypt, and the Russians were driven beyond 
the Danube, but recrossed and defeated the Turks at 
Rustchuck. In 1812, Mecca and Medina were recov¬ 
ered from the Wahabis, and in Europe the Peace of 
Bucharest, making the Pruth the boundary, closed the 
Russian War. 

In 1813 Servia was recovered only to again revolt in 
1815, when it was formally guaranteed freedom of 
religion. The subjugation of the Wahabis was com¬ 
pleted by the capture and execution of their sultan, 
Abdallah, in 1818. 

The Greek War of Independence, 1821-8, was marked 
by the massacre of many Greek residents of Constanti¬ 
nople, including the patriarch. In 1822, Nubia was an¬ 
nexed to Egypt and the Turkish Empire; while the 
Turks were driven out of the Morea, and the Greeks de¬ 
clared their independence the same year. The Greek 
War was carried on with varying success until 1826. 

In 1826 the Janizaries were abolished (p. 38). The 
treaty of Akerman, in Bessarabia, between Russia and 
Turkey, placed Moldavia, Wallachia and Servia under 
the protection of Russia, exempting them from all but a 
nominal dependence on and moderate tribute to Turkey. 

1827 was marked by a treaty between Russia, En¬ 
gland and France, guaranteeing the independence of 
Greece; and the defeat of the Turko-Egyptian fleet at 
Navarino. 

The Ninth Russian War broke out in 1828, 
when the Russians crossed the Danube and took Varna, 
with the loss of 20,000 men, but were repulsed from 
Shumla. In 1829, besides taking Erzeroum in Armenia, 
they captured Silistria on the Danube, crossed the Bal¬ 
kans (p. 13), and occupied Adrianople, resulting in the 
Peace of Adrianople. By this peace Turkey ceded sev¬ 
eral fortresses in Armenia; Moldavia, Wallachia and 
Servia were again placed under Russian protection, 
Milosch Obrenovitch was declared hereditary prince of 
Servia; and a war indemnity of 7,000,000 ducats was 
paid to Russia. The boundary between Greece and 
Turkey was established in 1830. 

In 1831 Mehemet Ali, of Egypt, revolted, invaded 
Syria, was placed under the ban of the empire in 1832, 
but signally defeated the Turks, taking Acre, Homs, 


Aleppo, Damascus, and finally Konieh, in Asia Minor. 
In 1833, by the peace of Konieh, he secured the posses¬ 
sion of Syria, but as a tributary of Turkey. Another 
more remarkable treaty marked the same year, the secret 
one of Unkiar-Skelessi (“the landing-place of the em¬ 
peror”), between Russia and Turkey, authorizing the 
Porte to close the Dardanelles, in case of need, against 
any power whatever, and guaranteeing a perpetual alli¬ 
ance between the two powers! 

In 1834, was issued the remarkable firman which re¬ 
moved from the people the burden of entertaining pub¬ 
lic functionaries when traversing the country. The 
sentiment enunciated by Mahmud in that connection is 
worthy of being immortalized. “No one is ignorant,” 
said he, “ that I am bound to offer support to all my sub¬ 
jects against vexatious proceedings, to endeavor unceas¬ 
ingly to lighten, instead of increasing, their burdens, and 
to insure their peace and tranquility; therefore, those 
acts of oppression are at once contrary to the will of 
God and to my imperial orders.” In 1837 he introduced 
the “new law,” extensively modifying and improving 
the various departments of the government. 

An important commercial treaty with Great Britain 
marked the year 1838. 

Character. — Mahmud was one of the ablest of 
the Ottoman sultans, and followed in the footsteps of 
his cousin Selim, seeking to establish the reforms which 
that prince had begun. Though the many rebellions 
and wars of his reign drew heavily on the resources of 
the state and his own time, he managed during the in¬ 
tervals to effect several salutary changes. He modified 
and readjusted the system of taxation, introduced a 
militia system modeled on that of England, established 
schools of medicine, anatomy and painting, and removed 
the export duty on grain, besides granting increased 
privileges to western merchants. Had Turkey possessed 
many such sultans as Mahmud, she would perhaps now 
hold an enviable position among the nations. 

ABD-UL-MEDJID I. 

Abd-ul-Medjid I. was born in 1822, succeeded his 
father in 1839, and died in 1861. 

Reign. —In 1839 he issued a Ilatt-i-sheri (p. 26) 
defining thepnghts of his subjects, granting toleration to 
all forms of religion, and authorizing Mussulmans to be¬ 
come Jews or Christians if they thought proper. This 
was followed by other salutary reforms, but the war with 
Mehemet Ali, of Egypt, which had been recommenced 
just before his accession, disturbed his projects, and 
came very near overthrowing the Osmanli dynasty—the 
only instance in the history of Turkey where such dan¬ 
ger became imminent, or the design was even thought of. 
The Great Powers, except France, stepped in to prevent 
so sweeping a revolution, and by the treaty of 1840 the 
pacha of Egypt was obliged to relinquish Syria, but 
allowed to retain the viceroyalty of Egypt, which was 
made hereditary. Revolts in Syria and Albania in 


THE OS MAN LI DYNASTY. 


51 


1840, were subdued by Omar Pacha. In 1843-4 he re¬ 
organized the army, in 1846 he established a Council of 
Education,” in 1849 he refused to surrender Kossuth, 
and other political refugees, to Austria and Russia, and 
in 1850 the members of all religions were declared equal 
before the law. 

Tenth Russian War, known as the Crimean, 

1853-5, was due to the assumption, by Russia, of the 
protectorate of the Greek Christians throughout the Tur¬ 
kish dominions, and was closed by the peace of Paris in 
1856, which guaranteed Turkey from further aggressions 
on the part of Russia, and the integrity of her territory, 
which was increased by a small district around Ismail, 
north of the Danube, between Roumania and the Black 
Sea, and extending along the coast to within about 
twenty-five miles of the Dniester. In that war, it will 
generally be remembered, Turkey was supported by En¬ 
gland and France, besides what was then the Kingdom 
of Sardinia, but is now Italy. Also, that the conflict 
was signalized by encounters such as the battles of Alma, 
Balaklava, Inkermann, and the bombardment of Sebas¬ 
topol, that will live in military history to the latest times, 
side by side with the noblest deeds of courage and hero¬ 
ism that have ever distinguished the career of humanity. 

Character. —Though not possessing the energy and 
ability of his father, he faithfully followed in the path of 
reforai and improvement marked out by him and Selim 
III. The aim of all his measures was to place his sub¬ 
jects, as far as practicable, on an equal footing with the 
people of the more advanced states of Europe. His re¬ 
ligious tolerance and humanity have been already illus¬ 
trated. He also labored faithfully for the impartial ad¬ 
ministration of justice throughout the empire, without 
regard to race or religion; and what is more singular, he 
refused to order the execution of the conspirators against 
his own life. He was a mild, humane, generous and 
honorable prince, but inclined to extravagance and 
luxury. 

ABD-UL-AZIZ. 

Abd-ul-Aziz was born in 1830, succeeded his brother 
in 1861, was deposed and died in 1876. 

Reign. — The reduction of Montenegro in 1862, the 
visit to the viceroy of Egypt in 1863, the recognition of 
Prince Charles of Roumania in 1866, and the trip to the 
capitals of the Western Powers in 1867, together with 
the continuance of the reformatory movement at home, 
marked the first years of this reign. 

The system of borrowing money, already begun in 

connection with the Crimean War, was continued osten- 
* 

sibly for purposes of internal improvement, but a large 
share of it was consumed in ruinous discounts, and the 
abundance of money led to extravagance in all classes 
of the people, including the sultan. The reduction of 
his civil list by $3,cxx>,ooo, the first year, was counter¬ 
balanced by liberal outlays on specious but trivial im¬ 
provements. 


In 1866 he authorized as sovereign the law of direct 
hereditary succession — father to son — in Egypt, with 
the title khedive (substitute) instead of vali (viceroy), for 
a pecuniary consideration. In 1867 he withdrew the 
garrison from Belgrade, thus giving complete self-gov¬ 
ernment to Servia. In 1868 the Cretan insurrection, 
which had begun in 1866, was terminated by re-subju¬ 
gation to Turkey, despite the united entreaties of 
France, Russia, Prussia and Italy, in 1867, that it might 
be ceded to Greece. 

On his return from the western capitals in 1868, he 
formed a “ Council of State ” composed of thirty-four 
Mussulmans and sixteen Christians, as a central legis¬ 
lative authority for the whole empire. In 1869 he 
ordered the compilation of a code of laws based on the 
Code Napoleon, of France. The same year he suc¬ 
ceeded in restraining the vaulting ambition of the khe¬ 
dive of Egypt, who assumed nearly all the prerogatives 
of an independent sovereign, virtually ignoring the 
theoretic suzerainty of the sultan. In 1870, he de¬ 
nounced as illegal the khedive’s projected loan. In 
1871 an insurrection in Yemen was subdued, and Tunis 
was made an integral part of the empire. In 1872-3 
the khedive of Egypt recovered all his former ascend¬ 
ency, obtaining all the privileges of an independent 
sovereign, except in the matter of direct relations with 
foreign powers, the payment of an annual tribute, and a 
few minor restrictions. 

In 1873 the railroad connecting the capital with the 
west by way of Adrianople and Philippopolis was form¬ 
ally opened. A rebellion in Montenegro marked the 
year 1874, but it was reduced in 1875. An insurrection 
in Herzegovina began in 1875, an< ^ continued through 
1876. . A war with revolted Servia and Montenegro also 
marked the year 1876. The sultan was deposed for al¬ 
leged incompetency, May 30, and committed suicide 
June 4, 1876. 

Character.—He labored to modernize Turkey, and 
to introduce the law of direct hereditary succession; but 
like his reforming predecessors he found conservative 
“ Old Turkey,” its ulemas and softas, with their theocratic 
notions, too strong for him. He possessed fair adminis¬ 
trative ability, but was too willing to borrow money and 
too extravagant in its disbursement, bringing financial 
bankruptcy on his country and virtually mortgaging it to 
the money-lenders. 

Deposition of Abd-ul-Aziz. 

The Case Stated by the Revolutionists:— “If the 

commander of the faithful becomes afflicted with a disorder of 
his faculties, so that he cannot take cognizance of political 
affairs; if he, by*personal extravagance, increases the burdens 
of the nation beyond endurance; if he, by wrongs which he 
causes, threatens the ruin of the empire and of the Mussulman 
community; if his rule is destructive—must he be deposed?” 

The Slieik-ul-Islam’s Reply, embodied in a formal 
fetvja ,—“The law says, yes.” 

Alnl-ul-Aziz’s Response. —“Great is Allah.” 


5 2 


HISTORY OF TURKEY. 


AMURATH V. 

Amurath V. was born in 1840, succeeded his uncle on 
May 30, and was deposed August 31, 1876. 

Reign.—The Servian War broke out June 30, and 
the Montenegrin followed July 2; besides the insurrec¬ 
tion in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, inherited from 
the previous reign, claimed attention. Crete was ripen¬ 
ing for an outbreak, and Roumania, nominally subject to 
the Porte, assumed the attitude of neutrality appropriate 
to a foreign power. Amurath’s inability to grapple with 
the difficulties of the situation, led to his deposition, in 
the same manner as his predecessor, after a reign of 
three months. 

Character. —He is a weak, dissipated and intem¬ 
perate prince, whom habits of self-indulgence anil drunk¬ 
enness have reduced to a condition of imbecility, idiocy 
and occasional frenzy. 

ABD-UL-HAMED II. 

Abd-ul-Hamed was born in 1842, succeeded his 
brother, August 31, 1876, and is the present sultan of 
Turkey. 

Reign. —He inherited from the previous reign the 
complications with the semi-independent tributaries and 


disaffected provinces; and his occupation of the throne 
was threatened in October, 1876, by a formidable com 
spiracy in favor of his cousin Yusuf, son of Abd-ul-Aziz. 

The conference of the six great powers—England, 
Russia, Germany, France, Austro-Hungary and Italy— 
with the Porte at Constantinople, failed to adjust the 
points at issue, but secured the prolongation of the ex¬ 
isting armistice to March 1, 1877. Meanwhile a truce 
with Servia was followed by peace on the basis of rees¬ 
tablishing the same relations as before the war. 

All these political embarrassments are dwarfed by 
the existing conflict— Eleventh Russian War, 1877, 
which threatens the capture of Constantinople and the 
overthrow of the Ottoman dominion in Europe. 

Character. —Tie is the husband of one wife, duly 
married, and the father of two children—a boy of seven 
and a girl of four years, with whom he has lived after 
the manner of a gentleman of fortune of the west of 
Europe. He has acquired a preference for western man¬ 
ners, retaining of the national costume only the fez. 
His personal habits are fairly good, he likes study, but 
gives proper attention to public affairs. In religion he 
is an orthodox Turk of the old school, which adds to 
his chances of permanency, but without airy extreme or 
fanatical tendencies. 


TURKEY IN ASIA 



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“An offer of a hundred dollars for the book, or even fix e times 
that sum, x'.’ou/d not buy it from me, xvere it an impossibility to 
procure another copy." 


From Wm. M. Cubery, of Cubery & Co., Pub¬ 
lishers, San Francisco, Cal. 

“ ‘ Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms ’ is not only 
a luxury, but a necessity — eminently serviceable in the social 
circle, and indispensable to the man of business who would 
save time and money. I keep a copy in my counting-room 
for ready reference.” 


Sold only by Subscription. Energetic agents wanted. For terms and descriptive circulars, 

Address MOSES WARREN & CO.. Publishers. 

No. 103 State Street, CHICAGO. 










































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